Man Utd won thanks to own goal and penalty

A 2-0 victory over Benfica helped the Old Trafford team almost secure the top spot in Group A.

Man Utd only need one more point to secure an early ticket to the Champions League round of 16. Photo: Man Utd.

Goals: Svilar own goal 45', Blind pen 78'

Manager Jose Mourinho made six changes to the team that beat Tottenham 1-0 last weekend, including the appearance of reserve players Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind, Jesse Lingard and especially Scott McTominay. The 1.93m young midfielder and Nemanja Matic controlled the home team's midfield. The "Red Devils" had won all three previous matches and they did not want to be too aggressive, as the season gradually entered the fierce stage.

However, Man Utd still played comfortably after the opening whistle. Anthony Martial, in his first start for Marcus Rashford, did not reduce his penetration on the left wing. In the 15th minute, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area, forcing his opponent to use his hand to block. At the 11-meter mark, the French striker finished dangerously but lacked power, allowing Svilar to push the ball out.

Martial missed the chance to score from the penalty spot. Photo: AFP

Benfica quickly regrouped and retaliated. In the 18th minute, Diogo Goncalves dribbled from the left into the middle and fired a shot from about 25 meters away, despite David de Gea diving to save the goal. The visitors continued to block all of their opponents' attacks. At the end of the first half, Man Utd broke the deadlock with a long-range shot.by Matic. The ball hit the post, hit the back of young goalkeeper Mile Svilar, and bounced into the net.Matic did not celebrate his great contribution to the opening goal, as he rose to prominence for Benfica in three seasons from 2011-2014.

Having saved a penalty and then had the ball go into the net due to bad luck, Svilar was disappointed: “The emotions are contradictory, but I can’t do anything about luck. The first 20 minutes were exciting, but I still conceded an own goal.” In the first leg, Svilar also made a mistake that led to the home team’s only goal. Before Rashford’s free kick, he kept the ball but by inertia retreated back behind the goal line.

Matic contributed to the situation of scoring against his old team. Photo: Man Utd

Rashford still made his mark in the second leg. Coming on for Martial in the 75th minute, he gave himself a 20th birthday present with a breakthrough that earned him a penalty. Romelu Lukaku stepped up to take the responsibility of taking the free kick, although Ander Herrera then came to ask for it. Finally, Blind made a decisive shot into the middle of the goal.

“The result is hard to accept when you look at the way we conceded. We have won many games with different tactics. Against Man Utd, Benfica focused on defending in large numbers, waiting for counter-attacks. But we couldn’t score, but they did. Congratulations to Man Utd and we must continue to train hard,” coach Rui Vitoria said after the match.

Lukaku seemed to be going to take the penalty, but it seemed like coach Mourinho instructed him to give it to...

.... Blind back.

With their 20th consecutive unbeaten home match in Europe, Man Utd are top of Group A with 12 points from four games. Meanwhile, Basel and CSKA Moscow have only six points. The English representative only needs at least one point from the remaining two matches to qualify for the group stage in first place.

Line-up

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Darmian, Bailly, Smalling, Blind; Matic, McTominay; Mata (Herrera 68), Lingard (Mkhitaryan 46), Martial (Rashford 75); Lukaku

Benfica (4-3-3): Svilar; Douglas, Jardel, Ruben Dias, Grimald (Eliseu 64); Pizzi (Jonas 79), Fejsa, Samaris; Salvio, Jimenez (Seferovic 74), Goncalves

According to VNE