[whatwha]

We. Have. Arrived.

Plucky underdogs Utd have got a win away in Europe. Incredible!

 

[AndyMUFC]

Job done. It wasn't great and we only won through a really strange goal but they were toothless. This group has been a canter so far.

 

[Isotope]

Nice touch from Lukaku consoling the young keeper

Was probably his best touch in the game...

Savage!!

 

[NotoriousISSY]

Disjointed shit performance.

Zlatan, Pogba, Carrick, Fellaini and Bailly will all make a huge difference one way or another.

Onto Huddersfield...

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

We were very sloppy but they never ever looked like scoring.

Terrible mistake from the keeper but well done to Rashford for spotting it and making it happen.

3 wins from 3 games, fantastic.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Went exactly how I expected. Those expecting us to hammer Benefica were wrong.

 

[K2K]

Been knocked out in the group stage the last two times we were in the same group as Benfica.

We arent playing well. But need to keep grinding out wins though.

 

[Andy_Cole]

Last time we were in the CL with a similar level group we were knocked out. Today we’re sitting top with 9 points and three games to spare.

Are you not entertained? Bring on the knock outs!

 

[Red Stone]

Shit game, but we're pretty much through the group already and have played the two most difficult games of the group stage, so I'm not going to piss and moan about it.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Dailymail tomorrow:

Sloppy Man Utd land in Manchester just hours after playing badly but managing 3 points in Portugal. The sloppiness was evident as Mkhitaryan's bag slipped out of his hands as he was coming out of the terminal.

 

[Camilo]

Not a great performance, but totally fine - not every game can be a cracker. At least we were trying to attack today...

Defence totally solid, but Blind and Valencia just no good going forward.. I'm not sure if Mourinho has any interest in improving that aspect though. Lukaku was poor, but Mkhi was as bad as I've seen him... Perhaps a Mkhi upgrade in the summer will offset our defence minded fullbacks a bit more..?

There's just no spark in our performances right now, but onwards! I think keeping momentum in our performance level is so important - I hope Jose is bold enough to let us build it.

 

[Canagel]

I feel a bit sorry for Benfica. That was heading for 0-0 draw and I don't think either team did enough to win the game before the goalkeeper did his mistake. Nevertheless it's job done for us and a win in the next game will see us through. We definitely need to improve if we want to stay in this competition. That was a really poor display and everyone seemed very leggy and not on the same wavelength. Reminded me of the LVG performances.

 

[cyberman]

Why are posters chatting like tonight was the norm?
Another dire this and that, it makes no sense

 

[DomesticTadpole]

We're dreadful in away games.

We are starting to get the results, that is a good sign.

 

[Infra-red]

Reminiscent of late Fergie-era tumescent Euro aways.

Very little creativity in this side without Pogba in midfield.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Why are posters chatting like tonight was the norm?
Another dire this and that, it makes no sense

It takes some time to cool

 

[Cal?]

Last time we were in the CL with a similar level group we were knocked out. Today we’re sitting top with 9 points and three games to spare.

Are you not entertained? Bring on the knock outs!

Very important to win the group the way things are going, if most the other English teams win their group (except Spurs), we do not want to be 2nd.

 

[Devil may care]

We had a corner in the 77th minute that was looped away from the box and we passed all the way back to De Gea who in turn booted it back to Benfica, that and the comedic goal summed up the drizzling shits that was this game of football.

We are pretty much through but after the trudge at the weekend I was hoping for a more dynamic one tonight to take us into the Huddersfield match with a bit of spark, they wont be the pushovers Benfica were, and it wasn't Mourinho's fault, the sloppiness of several of our players tonight was unacceptable.

 

[Baby Groot]

That game was very boring to say the least, appart form the strange goal we scored. But they all count as much so i'm not complaining.

 

[Maradona10]

If this was a knockout game we would be praising mourinho of how it was a great away performance. Good defending isnt valued at all.

 

[Unmutual]

Remeniscent of the Europa games last season. That turned out okay so not too worried, but I don't want such toothless performances to become a habit.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Ultimately we're pretty much in the knockouts for the first time in four years, so feck it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Why are posters chatting like tonight was the norm?
Another dire this and that, it makes no sense

God knows. We have picked up injuries recently and might have lost a bit of form, but we are playing through it. In the recent past we would have gone on a losing streak. I like the way we are evolving.

 

[Irrational.]

Blind is an awful LB. Crying out for somebody natural there like Shaw.

Mkhi is devoid of confidence it seems and it shows. Lukaku played with blinkers on.

Smalling was physically very good. Lindelof fine. Matic is streets ahead of anyone else. Rashford clever for the goal.

Yep, Blind was absolutely dreadful tonight. Didn't do many things right. Our options at LB at the moment are pretty laughable. Young has to be first choice for now.

 

[walkinhop]

A win not the worth the wear and tear on my keyboard, taken to write this unimportant and uninspiring reply to a similarly fealu thread.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Either we played poor or maybe, just maybe, posters expectations were too high.

 

[Nick7]

9 points without leaving first gear. Good return.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Very poor performance again from us.

 

[JustAFan]

Happy for the win. Not happy with performance especially the lack of fire from the players

 

[Witchking]

It can be accepted that Lukaku might not be getting the best support, but he doesn't seem to have any control over the ball and kept giving it away nor did he look very mobile and had a lot of heavy touches. Seems to be the wrong time for Mkhi and Lukaku to go off form at the same time along with Rashford getting injured. Martial looks good though and hopefully gets a start at the weekend.

 

[cyberman]

@DomesticTadpole @RedDevil84
We flatter to deceive when we play well, we're LVG Utd with yet another crap performance stated as if it's not simply 2 average performances in a row.
We desperately need a home game imo. Its starting to take a toll.

 

[AshRK]

Job done. Loved lindelof's performance today. He is not too flashy but he reads the game well. Mkhi was our worst player and is probably the reason we have been crap for last 2 games. Jose must bench him.

Happy for rashford for his goal. A goal is a goal and hopefully he is back soon.

All in all wont complain much as now we are almost qualified to the next stage .

 

[beergod]

Nice touch from Lukaku consoling the young keeper

Was probably his best touch in the game...

This post was more entertaining than the entire match.

 

[BehemothTerror]

Would have liked to have seen abit more swashbuckling going forward from our attacking players. Solid result. Svilar had me in hysterics which made up for a lackluster first half. Defence was solid and cope well with the pace of Benfica on the wings. Smalling was excellent today which is good and a sign we could have some strong competition for places at CB in Jones, Bailley, Smalling Rojo and (hopefully) Lindelof. Rashford meant that, I refuse to believe otherwise.
Thought Mhki was poor today though, fluffed a great chance to put a shot on goal in from a good position and was a little bit infuriating with the constant loss of possession. I know in the How much do we miss Pogba thread there was some talk of Matic missing him but I think Mhki is suffering the most without Pogba or Fellani. His game relies so much on finding pockets of space and Pog/Fellani free the space up for him far better than Herrera or Mata.

 

[SuperiorXI]

Boring or frustrating?

Boooooooring.

 

[GM K]

We had a corner in the 77th minute that was looped away from the box and we passed all the way back to De Gea who in turn booted it back to Benfica, that and the comedic goal summed up the drizzling shits that was this game of football.

We are pretty much through but after the trudge at the weekend I was hoping for a more dynamic one tonight to take us into the Huddersfield match with a bit of spark, they wont be the pushovers Benfica were, and it wasn't Mourinho's fault, the sloppiness of several of our players tonight was unacceptable.

Very realistic summation. Couldn't agree more.

 

[KM]

Blind and Mkhitaryan performance was a disgrace.

 

[Greek9]

Holy shit i was about to cry everytime Mkhi touched the ball.. i love you Jose but PLEASE bench him, for the love of god he is terrible, absolutely terrible.

 

[Katalinski]

I am very pleased with our play - by half a strength gained maximum, saving energy for real challenges in PL. And I feel sorry for Benfica. Some 15 years ago it was still great team.

 

[KingMinger22]

Dreadful viewing. Same as v Liverpool.