The Red Devils eased into the round of 16 of Europe’s elite competition after completing a routing 2-0 victory against Benfica. Jose Mourinho’s side came with the sole objective of getting the three points and progress to the next stage.
Scott McTominay was handed his first Champions League start and Mourinho did rotate his players quite a bit. However, the core of the team remained the same. Manchester United won it ugly; there were not many signs of creativity and Benfica certainly troubled their defence with some neat passing and moves towards the final third.
Here we rate the Manchester United players from this game:
David de Gea- 7.5/10
Surprisingly the Spaniard had to make some good quality saves in the first half. The second half was much quieter but it cannot be denied that Benfica tested him well.
Matteo Darmian- 7/10
Darmian was the best Manchester United defender on the pitch and gave a sense of assurance and authority through his performance. He made some important defensive contributions and deserved the clean sheet.
Eric Bailly- 5/10
Bailly was complacent and lazy for major parts of the game and despite making some timely blocks and interceptions he was way far from his best last night.
Chris Smalling- 6/10
The captain for the game was strong on the air and won almost every duel inside the box. Smalling led the defence well at times and was better than Bailly in the game.
Daley Blind- 6/10
Blind is a good penalty taker, which was evident in United’s pre-season tour to the United States. He converted his penalty well but was found lacking in the other aspects of the game. His passing and crosses were wayward and the corners lacked precision.
Scott McTominay- 7/10
The youngster delivered quite a mature performance though there were talks of him being taken off at halftime. McTominay did not disappoint after Jose handed him the whole game. He eventually grew into the game and his passes, runs, and clearances were much more precise in the second half.
Nemanja Matic- 8/10
His powerful strike was enough o give United the lead before the halftime and thought the goal was ruled as an own goal, Matic’s contribution cannot be forgotten. He regularly broke down attacks and particularly flourished when Ander Herrera came in too.
Anthony Martial- 7/10
Martial’s mazy runs made it very difficult for Benfica to contain him. His first touch was sublime and the flicks were amazing to watch. He should have done better with the penalty and might have well gotten into the scoresheet.
Jesse Lingard- 5/10
Lingard struggled early on due to the knock that he received above his hip during a duel. He was unable to cope up with the pace of the game and hence ended up missing some easy chances too.
Juan Mata- 7.5/10
Mata was invisible for the first twenty minutes as he hardly got any time on the ball. However ever since, the Spaniard did a lot of running, linked up intelligently with McTominay and Lukaku. He got a warm reception from the fans after being substituted off.
Romelu Lukaku- 6.5/10
Lukaku missed a host of chances throughout the game and looks short on confidence. However, his team-play, ability to take on defenders and amazing footwork meant that he had a much improved second half.
Substitutes
Henrik Mkhitaryan- 6/10
The Armenian misplaced some passes early on but was nowhere close to his best. Mkhitaryan needs to improve soon as United face a tough set of fixtures now.
Ander Herrera- 7/10
Herrera won the ball back and started of attacks with accurate passing.
Marcus Rashford- 7/10
The birthday boy was a livewire ever since his introduction to the field and won a penalty through his first attacking move.
