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The lights went out at the Estadio Municipal de Braga, and for 80 minutes Manchester United suffered a quite shocking power failure too.
Rarely have Sir Alex Ferguson’s team lacked a spark quite like this. Trailing to Braga once again before a broken generator led to floodlight failure and a 10-minute delay in the teeming rain in north-west Portugal, United somehow turned it around with three late goals.
Safe passage: As at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, United turned the game around against Braga and moved into the knockout stages with the minimum of fuss
Match facts
Braga: Beto, Leandro Salino, Nuno Andre, Douglao, Elderson (Ze Luis 90), Custodio, Hugo Viana (Mossoro 86), Alan, Ruben Micael, Ruben Amorim (Barbosa 86), Eder. Subs not used: Quim, Helder, Baiano, Ismaily, Djamal.
Booked: Eder.
Goal: Alan 49 (pen).
Man Utd: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Evans (Ferdinand 58), Evra, Nani (Da Silva 73_, Anderson, Giggs, Rooney, Hernandez, Welbeck (Van Persie 64).Subs not used: Lindegaard, Carrick, Young, Cleverley.
Booked: Smalling.
Goal: Van Persie 80, Rooney 85 (pen), Hernandez 90+2.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
Attendance: 19,015.
Not for the first time this season Robin van Persie came to the rescue. But if the Dutchman’s late equaliser was undeserved, the goals from Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez must have left Braga feeling as if they had been mugged.
Floodlight robbery, you could say.
But the fact is that, without being at their best, United have qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with two games to spare, and are guaranteed to finish top of Group H after maintaining their 100 per cent record in Europe this season.
Afterwards, as fans filed out via the stairs because the lifts were no longer working, Ferguson’s assistant Mike Phelan capped a bizarre night by conducting his press conference in semi-darkness.
‘It was a little surprising we scored three,’ admitted Phelan, filling in because Ferguson had to leave to attend the funeral of his sister-in-law in Scotland.
‘We didn’t do anything in the first half but the way the game panned out, with the lights going out and the heavy rain, it changed the evening for us. We were disappointed to go out early last season and our intention this year was to get through very quickly.’
Level pegging: Van Persie latched on to Ryan Giggs' wonderful free-kick to embarrass Beto with a smart finish
If United’s progress has not been in serious doubt since they came from behind to beat Braga at Old Trafford two weeks ago, victory last night was. David de Gea’s goal had already come under fire several times before the Portuguese took a deserved lead three minutes after the restart.
Custodio pushed the ball past Jonny Evans on the edge of the area but was stopped as he slammed straight into the defender. German referee Felix Brych decided Evans had deliberately failed to get out of the way, and pointed to the spot. Brazilian forward Alan smashed the ball home to make it three goals in two games against United.
In vain: Braga keeper Beto appeals to referee Felix Brych that Nuno Andre got the ball
Lucky break: Rooney failed to connect truly - but still sent the penalty into the net
The blackout gave Ferguson another chance to speak to his players and he sent on Rio Ferdinand for the injured Evans to play alongside Chris Smalling, making his first appearance in six months following a broken metatarsal.
It made little impact, but the introduction of Van Persie for Danny Welbeck in the 64th minute certainly did. ‘Robin was instrumental in getting us further up the field,’ acknowledged Phelan.
Wait for it: Javier Hernandez seemed to take an age to fire the third
Having failed to muster a solitary effort of note for 80 minutes, United produced three goals in the last 10.
First Braga keeper Beto charged out in an attempt to beat Van Persie to a through-ball. Van Persie won the race, sized up his left-foot shot, and curled it beyond the stranded keeper from 25 yards.
Plunged into darkness: Referee Felix Brych speaks to Ryan Giggs and Rooney before stopping play for 12 minutes
Then Custodio tripped Rooney in the penalty area and Brych gave his second penalty of the night on the advice of his assistant. The England striker missed from the spot against Arsenal on Saturday but this time made no mistake.
‘We were surprised Wayne took the penalty,’ confessed Phelan.
The main man: Alan lived up to his billing as Braga's star man, winning and taking the opening penalty
There was still time for Hernandez to make it three, the Mexican tapping home at the second attempt after Douglao blocked on the line.
In a stadium carved from the rock face of an old quarry, United had made hard work of chiselling out the win that makes their final two games, at Galatasaray and at home to Cluj, somewhat redundant.
Remember me? Nani skips past former Newcastle man Hugo Viana
But after last season, this is a marked improvement in what has been another relatively easy group.
After after a night shrouded in darkness in Portugal, that’s at least one reason for Ferguson to look on the bright side.
After after a night shrouded in darkness in Portugal, that’s at least one reason for Ferguson to look on the bright side.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2229403/Braga-1-Manchester-United-3--match-report-Robin-van-Persie-Wayne-Rooney-Javier-Hernadez-score.html#ixzz2Bb63docT
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