Seven Talking Points: Benfica 0 United 1

It was by no means a classic, but Manchester United’s 1-0 win at Benfica is a powerful result in the quest to qualify from Group A of the UEFA Champions League. Though it was a match of few clear-cut chances, there is still plenty to talk about following the final whistle...

1: THUMBS UP TO TECHNOLOGY
Marcus Rashford capped his energetic performance by scoring the decisive goal and, admittedly, it was in slightly fortuitous circumstances. The forward’s in-swinging free-kick from the left wing was caught by goalkeeper Mile Svilar, who backtracked over the line and took the ball with him. Thankfully, referee Felix Zwayer quickly declared in favour of United due to goal-line technology. In a nice touch, Romelu Lukaku and David De Gea both consoled the visibly upset young stopper at full-time.

2: A NEW COMPETITION RECORD
It was an unfortunate mistake from Svilar on what was otherwise a historic night for him, after he became the youngest-ever goalkeeper in Champions League history at the tender age of 18 years, one month and 22 days. The previous record had been set by Iker Casillas back on 15 September 1999, with his outing for Real Madrid against Olympiacos at 18 years, three months and 26 days.

3: HAPPY RETURN FOR MATIC
In the pre-match build-up, Nemanja spoke in detail about his transformation into a holding midfielder - at the instruction of then-manager Jorge Jesus - during a three-year spell at Benfica. That change in position revolutionised his career and the Serbian returned to Portugal as a world-class operator. This wasn’t United’s slickest performance, or indeed Matic’s, but the summer signing’s quality was obvious. He made three tackles, won 10 duels, completed 77 passes and hit two shots at goal. No surprise, then, that he was named Man of the Match by fans on Twitter, collecting 62 per cent of the votes to finish ahead of Rashford (28 per cent) and Ander Herrera (10 per cent).

4: CLEAN SHEET FOR LINDELOF
On the subject of former Benfica players, this was also an encouraging night for Victor, following his third European start of the season and a clean sheet to boot. The Sweden international is being given time to adapt to his new club and this was another educational outing for him.

5: WHY JONES DIDN'T START
Jose Mourinho revealed Phil Jones was omitted from the starting XI due to injury. The in-form centre-back picked up a problem during the recent international break, but managed to play in the Premier League fixture against Liverpool at Anfield. He was an unused substitute at Benfica and it remains to be seen if he will feature against Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

6: A EUROPEAN DEBUT
That arrived for Scott McTominay, who replaced Henrikh Mkhitaryan in added time. The promising Academy graduate has impressed Mourinho since making his senior bow towards the end of last season, and he has opportunities to play in the coming weeks with Michael Carrick and Paul Pogba still injured.

7: FC BASEL SHOCK CSKA
Elsewhere in Group A, Swiss champions FC Basel claimed an unexpected 2-0 away win at CSKA Moscow in Russia. They're now second place on six points, three behind United with three matches left. We can qualify with another win against Benfica on matchday four, providing CSKA lose away to Basel.