Full Time: Manchester United 2-0 Benfica
Another day, another clean sheet for Manchester United. The Red Devils marched away to a 2-0 victory against Benfica in the second leg of their Champions League encounter, owing to an own goal from Mike Svilar and a penalty by Daley Blind. In fact, Manchester United edged closer to the Champions League last-16 for the first time in the last 4 years.
The win leaves United 6 points clear at the top of Group A with two matches remaining, on a night that truly ended on a good note for the club and its fans. After a few hiccups, it looks like Jose Mourinho’s men are rallying back to form with back-to-back wins against Tottenham Hotspur and now Benfica.
Manchester United Player Ratings
David De Gea – 8/10
The goalkeeper continues to be a rock in front of the net for United. He maintained another clean sheet after making numerous saves to deny the opposition.
Matteo Darmian – 6/10
The player did not contribute much while going forward. Even when it came to the defence, he was quite average.
Eric Bailly – 5.5/10
An extremely sloppy and disappointing performance from Bailly. He picked up a yellow card and almost allowed Gimenez to score in the second half.
Chris Smalling – 7/10
Smalling was quite dependable and he played some good passes across the midfield to aid Romelu Lukaku. He was quite solid at the back as well.
Daley Blind 6.5/10
Blind almost seemed lazy with his defending and did not provide Anthony Martial enough support. However, he did take a nice shot to slot the penalty in for United.
Scott McTominay – 7.5/10
The youngster made his first start in the Champions League and proved to be very solid. He was calm and composed while holding on to possession well and making some well-timed tackles.
Nemanja Matic – 8/10
Matic continues to impress for United. It was another effortlessly controlled performance from the Serb. He maintained control over the play and it was because of his shot that Svilar scored the own goal in United’s favour.
Juan Mata – 6/10
He made a quite start and he was crafty in exploiting the tight spaces. However, he was substituted for Herrera after just over an hour.
Jesse Lingard – 5/10
The player failed to do much but to be fair, he suffered a knock to his lower back early on and that kept him quiet for a while before he was replaced by Mkhitaryan at half-time.
Anthony Martial 8.5/10
Martial was brilliant throughout the match. He effortlessly tore Benfica apart on the left flank and even earned United a penalty. The only dampener would be the fact that he was denied by a good save from Svilar.
Romelu Lukaku – 7/10
Lukaku missed a brilliant opportunity to put United in front in the first half when he was one-on-one with Svilar. Besides that, he was quite solid as he showed off his pace and penetration in the wide areas.
Substitutes
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 7.5/10
He did some good running on the ball and was responsible for a couple of good passes. In fact, it was one of his better performances of late.
Ander Herrera – 6.5/10
Herrera did his duty diligently enough like always but he failed to produce any notable results.
Marcus Rashford 8.5/10
Star of the night once again, Rashford made an instant impact. In fact, he earned United’s second penalty immediately after he picked up the ball for the first time. Rashford is truly one of United’s strongest assets right now.