Mourinho Explains Penalty Takers

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says it was his decision for Daley Blind to take the Reds' second penalty in the UEFA Champions League win over Benfica at Old Trafford.

Anthony Martial took the first spot-kick, which was saved by Mile Svilar early in the first-half, but the Frenchman was off the field when substitute Marcus Rashford was brought down in the box in the 78th minute.

It appeared that top scorer Romelu Lukaku was ready to take the resulting penalty, only for Blind - who had impressed Mourinho in practise sessions - to step forward and fire home to seal all three points.

The manager said on the subject: "I'm paid to make decisions – good or bad - and in the first half it was a bad decision because the player that I chose to take the penalty missed. In the second half I made another decision and I don’t see the drama because there is no drama.

"The penalty taker for this match was Martial, he took one in the first half and missed. And he was not on the pitch when the second one happened, so then, I had a decision to make.

"Romelu wants to take it because he has that personality to want to take the responsibility – so does Herrera. But my decision based on what we did on training in the past couple of days was Blind. The players respect my decision and that’s it – end of story."

Converting the spot-kick meant Blind became the Reds' 11th different scorer of the 2017/18 campaign so far. It was his maiden goal in the Champions League after 24 appearances for United and Ajax, and his sixth strike for the Reds overall - his fifth came in the Boxing Day win over Sunderland last season.