It was deja vu for Manchester United fans as they watched their side record yet another draw, this time in Belgium on Thursday night against Anderlecht in the Europa League.
After dominating possession and carving out numerous clear-cut chances, the United players looked to have settled for a 1-0 win when Leander Dendoncker thumped home a bullet header in the 86th minute which allowed their opponents to give themselves a huge boost ahead of the return leg by securing a 1-1 draw.
While you could rightly suggest that Fellaini should have tracked his man and at least contested the header, it really shouldn't have mattered at all as United should have been 3-0 up by that point having missed a number of glaring chances, the most frustrating of which came from Paul Pogba lashing a volley directly at the Anderlecht keeper when put clean through on goal.
This is the story of Manchester United's season. Seven shots on target, one goal. Heaps of chances, the other team's keeper having a blinder. Opponents get a chance and take it (that was Anderlecht's only shot on target despite previous warnings).
After being the standout player on the pitch at 35 years-of-age, Michael Carrick was speaking to BT Sport and he described it as a sloppy performance, where missed chances cost the team a better result. When it was Mourinho's turn, he made it very clear who the blame should lie with.
If I was a Man United defender I would be very upset with the attacking players because they had to kill the game and they didn't.
22 goals conceded in the league is the second best, and is an impressive return from 30 games... 46 goals scored in the league is a crisis for a club of United's stature. It's one more than Bournemouth have managed, and no other side in the top six has scored less than 60.
This is the most sense Mourinho has spoken in weeks. It's just not good enough from the attackers, and Paul Pogba must be included in this as he is someone who finds scoring chances with regularity in the side. Finishing is the problem, but these are players capable of scoring goals. It cannot be put down to bad luck, as this has gone on far too long.
The killer instinct is seemingly gone. When was the last time Man Utd went a goal or two up, and then pushed for more to end the game? This is something we have seen Spurs do in recent weeks, and it seems like even when Man Utd do win, it's a nervy one such as the Middlesbrough result that needed Victor Valdes' blunder in stoppage time for breathing space.
The result in Belgium is fine on the face of things. An away goal, they'll do the job at Old Trafford and move on to the semi-finals you would have to expect, but the casual manner in which they took the foot off the gas when the job was not finished is not a one-time thing.
It's a big problem, and one that will surely be addressed in the summer. With Mourinho pulling up the likes of Javier Hernandez as an example in recent times, the attacking players in the squad need to start chipping in where it counts. On the scoresheet.
