Manchester United's players have grown all too familiar with the cruelty of penalties over the last year.
United lost on penalties in Gdansk, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho failed to convert at Wembley and Anthony Elanga was the latest youngster to be overcome by numbness at Old Trafford on Friday night. The defeat was far from Elanga's fault, but that was lost on the 19-year-old. He looked distraught after the final whistle. Elanga couldn't have felt more alone in front of 70,000 people.
This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't part of the script. There was an audacious lofted chip from Sancho than cannoned off the bar, Ronaldo sent his penalty wide in the first half and Bruno Fernandes squandered a golden opportunity. The result should have been put beyond doubt, but United failed to take their chances. That proved costly when Middlesbrough won the penalty shootout.
