When Manchester United's home clash with Cypriot minnows Omonia Nicosia entered injury time on Thursday night, it looked as though an appalling scoreless draw was inevitable. Eric Ten Hag's side had unleashed a stunning 33 shots at goal, but could not find a way past inspired opposition goalkeeper Francis Uzoho. 

A draw would have meant United would lose their hopes of winning Group E of the Europa League and they would have faced one of AC Milan, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or Juventus in the knockout stage. The Red Devils faithful feared the worst.  

Fortunately, while their main marksman Cristiano Ronaldo remained a shadow of his former self and forgot his shooting boots, Scott McTominay stepped up. 

The Scottish midfielder came off the bench to finally break Omonia's resistance in the 93rd minute after poking the ball into the net with the 34th shot of the night after a scramble in the penalty box. 

In doing so, McTominay became the first United player to register a 90th-minute-plus winner in European competition since Ole Gunnar Solskjær's famous goal in the 1999 Champions League final.  

"Sometimes it works like that. Substitutes can have an impact when they have the right attitude and the right focus," beamed Ten Hag during the post-match press conference. "In this team there is a lot of creativity and scoring capabilities. Sometimes you have a night where you will not succeed. Today was that night. 

"But the good thing was the team keep going and they don't give up. They keep believing and in the end we get the reward. That is the way we have to do it. I am really happy with that. It is about the spirit in the team and the squad. It is not just about the 11 players."

For United, it should have been far more comfortable but for a string of sensational saves by Uzoho. The 23-year-old Nigerian youngster, who squeezed into the starting line-up due to injury to the first choice stopper Fabiano, produced the performance of his life and threatened a huge upset.  

Ultimately, however, it was a heartbreaking defeat for Uzoho and his valiant teammates, who were so close to coming away from Old Trafford with a precious point. But Uzoho refused to let the setback ruin his day. 

"I am not disappointed because we had a good game," he told reporters. "We would have preferred to get at least a point but I am happy. It's not an easy stadium to play in with these big players but I'm happy in general.

"It's a dream come true. I have dreamed to play here for a long, long time. So when I saw the draw, I wanted to play and prayed to God that I would get the opportunity to play. I got it and I am happy that I played here." 

"I'm a Manchester United fan – my dad is as well. It is the best performance of my career, I have to admit, and I'm very happy." 

The sentiment was echoed by Omonia coach Neil Lennon, who added that Uzoho "hasn't shut up all week" about playing at Old Trafford.  

"He was inspiring. I'm very proud of him," said Lennon. "When you play a team of this caliber you need your goalkeeper to play well and he was world class. I was so happy for him. He has had to be patient. The opportunity came along and I had a chat with him about what I wanted. I thought he was magnificent. He excelled under the spotlight. I'm so happy for him because all of his hard work has come to fruition." 

"We were a minute or two away from probably the greatest result in the club's history."

United's lucky win means they are only three points behind group leaders Real Sociedad, who cruised past Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 earlier in the day. Next up for United will be a home tie with Sheriff in two weeks time and winning the group remains within their grasp. 

Elsewhere, Bukayo Saka shone as Arsenal took a giant step towards qualifying for the knockout stage with a slender 1-0 victory over Bodo/Glimt. West Ham guaranteed knockout qualification with two games to spare after securing a 2-1 win over Anderlecht. 

Real Betis dropped their first points in four games after a 1-1 draw to Roma, while Rennes beat Dynamo Kyiv 1-0 in Krakow.