Manchester United had to settle for a draw against Benfica to leave the Reds with work to do in Champions League Group A.
Benfica went ahead after Phil Jones' early own goal before Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Fletcher struck to put United in front.
However, just moments after Fletcher's effort Pablo Aimar equalised, and neither side could force a winner.
The result means United must avoid defeat in Switzerland against Basel in a fortnight to scrape into the Champions League knockouts.
Nerve-jangling
Only the Reds could turn a group they welcomed with open arms in August as the easiest of the whole draw into such a nerve-jangling finale.
The nailed on section has turned into a nail-biter.
Sir Alex Ferguson said in his pre-match press conference that he wanted to finish top to ensure the advantage of an Old Trafford second leg in the last 16.
With Wayne Rooney ruled out with the knock he picked up against Swansea Dimitar Berbatov started on his own up front.
But with just four minutes on the clock attention was on the other end of the field when Jones scored an own goal.
The starring light of United’s campaign has been racking up the comparisons during his impressive start to the season, with England coach Fabio Capello likened him to Italian great Franco Baresi.
Respected Old Trafford names such as Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Neville have mentioned him in the same breath as United legends Duncan Edwards, Bryan Robson and Roy Keane.
You just know when the tributes are flying in like that that fate will be ready to knock you down.
Own goal
Jones lashed at Nicolas Gaitan’s cross and diverted the ball past David de Gea.
Old Trafford was hushed and there was a sense of doom in the air as Benfica ripped into them and United’s response was minimal.
But a side who’ve clawed their way back from the adversity of the derby disaster don’t throw in the towel.
A flying Nani run interrupted crudely by Garay suggested United were coming out of their shell.
Berbatov had done little to suggest his Euro stock was about to turn but his first real imprint on the match saw him glance in Nani’s 30th minute cross for the equaliser.
It upped United’s confidence and did nothing to damage Benfica’s so the match did become a more highly watchable game than we’ve endured of late.
The fact the Reds also generally had the Portuguese champions on the back foot was a bonus.
But even when Darren Fletcher stabbed the Reds into a 59th minute lead it was one of those nights when you could never have felt comfortable about United.
The kamikaze defending that looked to have been repaired caused United more heartache a minute after taking the lead.
Jones gave a back pass to De Gea who never got distance on his clearance and Benfica stormed at the back-pedalling Reds.
Cesar’s cross was blocked by Rio Ferdinand but he could swipe it away and Aimar followed up with the leveller.
Berbatov could have stolen the show in the 78th minute with what would have been a spectacular volleyed winner but his effort sailed into the Stretford End.
Both sides could have won it late on and those fans making the trip to Switzerland next month had better be ready for a nervy night on December 7.
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.
Manchester United 2 Benfica 2 - Stuart Mathieson's verdict
November 22, 2011
Comments
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it's such a pity. Good to see Berba in Rooney's role + flicks + quality......and score too.... May be we should use him more often... The defense was a disaster
We should of won we have been let down big time by the Centre Backs tonight a bloody own goal and Rios well.. I don't really know what the hell that leg lock thing was he attempted but either way both of Benfica's goals were absolute gifts they created little to nothing and did not test De Gea at all.
MOTM: Carrick easily he gets so much unfair stick off the torch and pitchfork types on here but on tonight's performance he could of bossed the 3 man midfield of Benfica alone also Evra, Nani and Berbatov deserve shouts great play from them.
The Ref :@ Joke just a joke and his linesmen the 2nd Berbatov goal Young was onside when he collected Carrick pass then he cutback for Berbatov to score and a stonewall penalty for a foul on Nani.
Begs the question of our defence again without Vidic...
To summarise Benfica got away with it total domination and great attacking football we looked like our old selves again but alas Benfica are no small team they have gone 20 games unbeaten well... 21 now it seems.
Tough, tough break for Jones. Way to go Berbatov!!!! Won't be able to watch till this evening but followed on the CL site and it seemed a darned exiting affair from the commentary.
Well done everyone,
r7
not to upset with the draw as city lost ha ha.
just shows how important vidic is
Latest Ladbrokes odds:-
1st depressing post blaming Carrick,Fletcher and Evans[even though he didn't play]
8/11 Danny from Wilmslow
Evens Man U Expert
Odds on either of them ever having seen a United game live 1/200,000
very poor midfield again.when will fergie wake up and see where the real problems lie? we just cant seem to control a game anymore with anyone. fergies "no value in the market" is coming back to bite him hard.
some of our play was poor again,all we tried to do was try to give the ball wide to the wingers as nothing was coming from the middle(what do u expect with carrick&fletcher?) and eventually it became very predictable and made it very easy for benfica to defend it out. cant see us going to the semi's or the final if we do manage to get to the knock outs.
Terrible tactics. I don't understand why Young stayed on. He let us down big time tonight. Championship material to say the least. SAF has to put his hands up and admit he can't do no better. The team wasn't the best yet certainly NOT the worst either. But the tactics as usual were unbelievable. Hernandez ten minutes in such an important match? Would you belief it?
Fergies never ending tinkering his having disastrous consequences on the team.For a game he must win he was tactically inept.
Benfica new all they had to do was put pressure on our midfield and defense and they would reap the rewards.
And with such sloppy play they did just that,Most of this must be down to very poor coaching and two many team changes,nobody knows where they are playing.To many balls going backwards its like a load of dummies who never learn.
Fergie should call it a day and leave ASAP
How we would have loved a 1-0 win!!
Great play from Nani, Evra and Carrick.
I wish Basel knocks us out.
With regular games, Berbatov would have scored that opportunity he got from the delivery from Fabio. We actually need Berbatov playing regulary. I would play him alongside Rooney or Hernandez.
...Furthermore, why is Rooney naturally first team? Fine, he does a lot for the team i.e. gets back, has good pass supply, chases down the ball etc. but that is exactly what a good midfield is needed for. Rooney is a striker and he is now at that age where he should be scoring regularly. I would actually start berbatov alongside hernandez or Welbeck. Rooney naturally has high determination and this would drive him to fight his way back into the squad, score more consistenly and become the World Class player he is suppose to be. He is world class but that little "something" is missing which is consistent goals!
Better performance by united.. Compare to last 6 Games. But jones own goal puts his performance below par today. Evra and Nani played well. May be basel game is LAST for united this season in CHAMPIONS league ?
What an enthralling game. Useless defending for both their goals, but up front we were terrific. I was very critical of Nani at the weekend, but today, he was immense. Fantastic performance from him and MoM by far. Michael Carrick, what a player. He was brilliant. Would have been my MoM if it weren't for a superlative performance from Nani. Berbatov was very good. He should have scored from that chance; he's one of the few players in Europe who have the ability to pull that off. Fletcher was good as well. Nice to see that the same players who have been criticized ad nauseam over the last few weeks put in very good performances. Our skipper for the night had a good game as well. Won't take the name because the last time I did it, I ended up jinxing him badly.
Now, the downside. I love Fabio, but he had a pretty ordinary game. De Gea made a very poor call with their second goal, looking to hoof it up to the right. Benfica targeted Fabio and he was hassled. The experience will serve him well, like it did for Rafael after that Bayern game. Young players make mistakes and you have to accept that. Ditto with Jones. You don't clear the ball facing toward the goal.That's one of the first rules of defending.
We've made it hard for ourselves, but Benfica were very good. They deserved the result. Aimar, what a player.
In all, mixed feelings about the game. Disappointed that we threw it away, but happy with some of our football.
Fantastic performance from Team and Carrick today, why can't we see this in the Premier League?, Strikers wasted chances, sloppy defense, Nice way to score your first ever professional football goal Jones..
as for the ones who say fergie is allways right? well he was wrong when he said he didnt need any more players,and if one is honest,we at least need 4 players to get to the level of barca,madrid or even city.
very poor midfield again.when will fergie wake up and see where the real problems lie? we just cant seem to control a game anymore with anyone. fergies "no value in the market" is coming back to bite him hard.
some of our play was poor again,all we tried to do was try to give the ball wide to the wingers as nothing was coming from the middle(what do u expect with carrick&fletcher?) and eventually it became very predictable and made it very easy for benfica to defend it out. cant see us going to the semi's or the final if we do manage to get to the knock outs. its time for the gimps to get the money out.
Another one in a series of wake up calls. By the way... who's answering these calls?
a champion league game group tie that was exciting for once just about as rare as rocking horse ****.
if we get through and there is some doubt that we will it will be as group runners up against team from 3 MICKEY MOUSE leagues ,this squad is slowly getting worse by. the season since our last cl win.
the wingers were again bloody awful all 3 of em
carrick again was the pick of the front six .
assuming we manage to scrape past the might of basle we will have to play a decent european team .unless sir alex addresses our glaring weaknesses in the midfield we wont get any further.
SAF wanted a top performance well he did not get one. That was a joke of a game void of spirit and courage. Hugely disappointing game. In all phases of the game we were just slow and we are suppose to be a top side with world class players who at the moment are just not performing at the standard of Manchester United.
What is worst we created all their stuff for them. Make you wonder exactly what goes on at training. Whew! where to start:
Defensively: Jones is so easily drawn out of possession and does just too much ball watching. He score one and assisted on another for Benfica. Someone should tell Evra there is a reason every team attack down his side.
Midfield: Carrick was okay but I think he tired at the end and Fletcher was Fletcher dispite scoring a goal. Valencia, don't know where to start just not the same player as a year ago. Nani cannot play on the left and if he does well I will not criticize him because it is not his fault they keep sticking him on the left. When he began to come in field his play improved but not enough. Which brings me to Ashley Young, I am choosing my words carefully here is not United material. The word is out on him. Get physical and he disappear. How many times they tried to play through him and he kept giving the ball back. No courage or responsibilty just not the standard required. I would rather see Park work hard and play with passion than watch two step young give someone else the responsibility.
Attack:
Berbatov proved to me tonight why he cannot be trusted to lead the line. How he scored a goal tonight is beyond belief? When the moment of truth came he fluffed a sitter typical.
Management: Grade F for tonight because for long periods this team played if they had never seen each other. No instruction, nothing to change the out come but to be fair the second goal for Benfica was school yard stuff that just cannot be toleranted at this level.
Overall hugely disappointing game where we did not look like United at all. I can only hope the hairdryer is out in full force. Benfica is a ok side that we should have put away at OT. Nothing more to say.
It is in our own hands! a draw is enough at swiss, but little ciddy they have to win against BAYERN and hope that NAPOLI are beaten by vallencia.
Too many wasted passes, plus points Berba to start on saturday, but knowing Taggart !!!!!
Before anyone says a negative word:
This was more like United. I actually believed that they could create chances and score goals. Vidic,
Cleverley and Rooney missing. can only get better.
With this attitude we will win in Basel.
With this attitude we can take on Inter/Barca/Real/Bayern in the 1/8 final. We took the "safe route" last year. It didn't work. United need to be United to be best. Yiu neeed to be a United fan to get the meaning of that sentence.
Yes, defence needs work. But Vidic will be back. Thank God!
I think it was the best performance in this month, where we had awful performances however rewarded with victory... we lose only because of two defensive mistakes (De Gea and Jones, who plays well). the bad thing is that we're going to face teams like Barcellona, Real Madrid and Bayern already. For me it's better to focus on the league!!
Not good back four all over the place when Vidic is missing. On this form not guaranteed to get through.
looking forward to Europa league derby at Old Trafford. another 6-1 will do nicely.