Former Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong has lamented Harry Maguire for his recent run of performances including his showing against Atalanta that saw the defence sliced apart for Duvan Zapata's second goal.
Despite the clean sheet at the weekend, the defensive frailties continued only for a number of last-ditch tackles and/or blocks to deny the hosts more than they could've bargained for.
The Colombian forward raced through galloping over the United captain's desperate sliding tackle to loft over David de Gea, restoring Gian Piero Gasperini's side lead after Cristiano Ronaldo thumped the visitor's level on the stroke of half-time.
Maguire's failure to clear the danger led to the Premier League winning Dutchman unleashing a scathing criticism of the England international.
"Maguire again. Smh. Getting exposed every week now. Instead of stepping forward his tendency is always to step back," De Jong tweeted.
Josip Ilicic opened the scoring on the night as he ghosted into space on the edge of the box before he saw his side-footed effort fortunately nestled in the back of the net.
United's woeful defensive record in Europe continued as their search for a clean sheet continued meaning they have kept just one in their last 15.
Saturday's win over Spurs saw them pick up their first shutout in the Premier League since the end of August, just their second of the season.
Luckily for the haphazard defensive display in the second half, Ronaldo stepped up once again with another moment of brilliance volleying into the bottom corner to ensure they went back to Manchester with a point.
De Jong's comments will be sure to stoke the bubbling fire as City travel to Old Trafford on Saturday looking to get back to winning ways after their 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend.
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