It's Man phew as Fergie's men scrape point at death.

Both sets of fans in this famous ground were left completely stunned after watching Manchester United blow a two-goal lead to come within minutes of losing.



You have to read it again to believe it.

Yep, 2-0 up through a Danny Welbeck double and United nearly ended the game empty-handed.

The fact Ashley Young grabbed a goal in the very last minute of normal time to salvage something is less surprising.



Basel coach Thorsten Fink knows as well as anyone what this club can do when all seems lost.

After all, he was a late sub for Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final, when United hit two injury-time goals at the Nou Camp to seal a dramatic 2-1 victory.

United boss Alex Ferguson has admitted down the years that his players do not make things easy for themselves — but this was pushing it too far.



This is a group of players who more often than not turn a 2-0 lead into a four, five or six-goal hammering.

Did they think it was just too easy against the Swiss champions?

If that was the case, you can bet the Fergie hairdryer is just cooling down as you read this.

But, after 17 minutes, it seemed as though United were cruising.

By the 76th minute, however, it was anything but a walk in the park as Alexander Frei dispatched a penalty that looked to have given Basel their first win on English soil.



It had all started so well too, a special night it seemed for 20-year-old Welbeck who was given a start ahead of Dimitar Berbatov, with both Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez out injured.

Manchester born, a United fan and a product of the club's academy, Welbeck used to look on starry-eyed at legends like Ryan Giggs skating over the hallowed turf at Old Trafford.

So when the Welsh wizard twice picked him out last night for his two goals inside one first-half minute, Welbeck was in dreamland.

Ferguson had chosen Giggs as the second striker to ensure Welbeck got the supply he wanted.



And when it came, Welbeck did not waste it either as he added to his goals from the start of the season at home to Stoke and Arsenal.

The England hitman had already been pulling the Basel defence this way and that before grabbing the opener on 16 minutes.

Antonio Valencia played Fabio in with a ball as perfectly weighted as the full-back's run to avoid an offside flag.

Fabio's cross through the centre of the box found Giggs, who teed it up with one touch for Welbeck.



His strike was not pure but his aim was true as the ball went skidding into the bottom corner.

A minute later, Giggs provided a crossfield pass that split the chaotic Basel backline and Welbeck hit the ball first time with accuracy and control into the near bottom corner.

The platform those Welbeck goals gave United should have made it comfortable.

Yet Basel had given the home side warnings in the first half as they cut United open to create a host of chances and went at them with renewed vigour after the break.



Basel had their brushes up and, with United's defence crumbling, hit two goals in three second-half minutes to bring the sides level.

From a 58th-minute corner, Marco Streller had a header weakly palmed out by United keeper David De Gea and Fabian Frei returned a shot with relish that crashed in off the left-hand upright.

Basel sensed an uncertainty in the United ranks and went straight back at them.



On the hour, Fabian Frei turned supplier crossing for namesake Alexander Frei to send a thumping header home.


It got worse for United and when Phil Jones sent a suicidal pass to winger Valencia inside his own box, the Ecuador ace was in trouble.

Valencia was dispossessed by Streller and then clumsily tried to recover the ball, only to send the Basel frontman to the ground.



It was a stonewall penalty and Alexander Frei dispatched it with power, giving De Gea no chance.

United were down but they are never out and when Nani crossed to the far post in the 90th minute, Young headed home.

Injury time saw both sides go for a winner.



Welbeck headed just wide, before United sub Berbatov blasted into the side-netting when he should have fired across goal with his team-mates better placed.

Then when Aleksander Dragovic launched a hopeful long shot from inside his own half, De Gea was flapping at thin air — only for the ball to bounce just wide.



At the final whistle, neither set of fans knew how to react.

But with just two points from their opening two games in Group C, United's faithful know their team cannot afford many more nights like this.