Man U top group after comeback
Manchester United scored two goals in 66 seconds in coming from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 in the Champions League yesterday, becoming the third English team to finish top of their group.
Romelu Lukaku volleyed in just his second goal since September for the 64th-minute equalliser, before strike partner Marcus Rashford drove home an angled winner to complete the comeback and extend United’s unbeaten run at home to a club record-equalling 40 games.
CSKA were eliminated from the competition, dropping instead to the Europa League, by finishing third in group A. The Russian club’s chances of sneaking second place looked possible when Vitinho gave them the lead seconds before halftime at Old Trafford.
Manchester City and Tottenham were already assured of first place heading into their final group games today, and Liverpool could secure top spot, too, if they were to beat Spartak Moscow.
With Chelsea also through, it means England could have five teams into the last 16 for the first time.
United manager Jose Mourinho rested some of his regular firstteam players, including goalkeeper David De Gea, with a view to Monnday’s Manchester derby in the Premier League but chose to play Lukaku again, even though qualification was virtually guaranteed coming into the game.
It might prove to be a wise choice, with his goal - a first-time finish from Paul Pogba’s cross potentially boosting Lukaku’s confidence ahead of United’s biggest match of the season. Having scored 11 goals in his first 10 games for United since joining from Everton this summer, the Belgium striker had only one in 12 before the CSKA match.
Basel joined United in the next phase from Group A by downing Benfica 2-0.
Paris Saint-germain won group B despite losing at Bayern Munich 3-1, the second straight loss for the French league leader.
Roma beat Qarabag 1-0 to top group C ahead of already-qualified Chelsea. The latter were held to 1-1 at home by Spanish club Atletico Madrid, who were eliminated after reaching the final in two of the last four years.
Last year’s runner-up, Juventus, had to wait until the last group game to qualify. Juve won at Olympiakos 2-0 and joined group winner Barcelona, who beat Sporting Lisbon 2-0.