Manchester United battle and come out on top but Chelsea through as runners-up to Roma
MANAGER Jose Mourinho praised Manchester United’s attitude after the Europa League holders came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow and top Champions League Group A.
But his Chelsea counterpart Antonio Conte will not have been so gruntled after the Blues finished second in Group C having drawn 1-1 with Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge.
Not even Alan Dzagoev’s controversial opener had the Old Trafford faithful concerned as only a record seven-goal defeat would have denied United a place in the last 16.
Quickfire goals from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford after the break turned the contest around as United triumphed 2-1.
“We confirmed the way we wanted to confirm, which was to play well and have a good result,” said Mourinho.
“Half-time we were losing, but playing well. I was not unhappy with the players at all. In the second half we had that strong reaction, we didn’t want to lose the match.
“The boys have played professionally and qualified the way we wanted to qualify.
“The team in the second half, they showed the desire of not qualifying with a defeat. We could lose four- or five-nil and qualify, but that was not the objective – the objective was to play well and win and we managed both.”
Victory puts United among the group winners for the last16 draw and saw them equal the club record of 40 successive home games without defeat ahead of Sunday’s visit of runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Mourinho was pleased with the performance of some of his fringe players after handing rare starts to goalkeeper Sergio Romero and full-back Luke Shaw.
“Luke Shaw, offensively, very, very good and great contribution for the team,” he added. “Romero is an amazing goalkeeper and is only on the bench because we have David (De Gea).
“(Shaw) was waiting for quite a long time, he was deserving for quite a long time, it is not easy to give an opportunity to a player who doesn’t play for many months.
“Honestly, I’m happy with his performance.”
Chelsea, meanwhile, were already through, but were unable to secure the win needed to claim top spot.
They fell behind to Saul Niguez’s header as Atletico sought the victory they needed to have any chance of progressing.
Eden Hazard’s run forced Stefan Savic to turn the ball into his own net as Chelsea claimed a draw that saw them finish behind Roma by virtue of their head-to-head records.
Roma’s 1-0 win over Qarabag meant Atletico will play Europa League football in 2018.
Jan Oblak, Atletico’s Slovenia goalkeeper, could do little to prevent Savic’s own goal, but he produced a series of fine stops to keep his side in the game and thwart Chelsea.
After getting down low to keep out Davide Zappacosta in the first half, Oblak also denied Alvaro Morata on a number of occasions, most notably when the former Real Madrid forward went through on goal shortly after Chelsea equalised.