Live Commentary
- 90mins
Second Half ends, Sporting Braga 1, Manchester United 3.
- 90mins
Goal! Sporting Braga 1, Manchester United 3. Javier Hern'andez (Manchester United) left footed shot from very close range to the top right corner.
- 90mins
Attempt blocked. Javier Hern'andez (Manchester United) right footed shot from very close range is blocked. Assisted by Wayne Rooney.
- 90mins
Rafael (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 90mins
Foul by Z'e Lu'is (Sporting Braga).
- 90mins
Substitution, Sporting Braga. Z'e Lu'is replaces Elderson.
- 90mins
Offside, Manchester United. Patrice Evra tries a through ball, but Javier Hern'andez is caught offside.
- 88mins
Foul by Antonio Valencia (Manchester United).
- 88mins
Elderson (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 88mins
Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 88mins
Foul by Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).
- 86mins
H'elder Barbosa (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 86mins
Foul by Robin van Persie (Manchester United).
- 86mins
Substitution, Sporting Braga. Mossor'o replaces Hugo Viana.
- 85mins
Substitution, Sporting Braga. H'elder Barbosa replaces Rub'en Amorim.
- 84mins
Goal! Sporting Braga 1, Manchester United 2. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
- 83mins
Penalty conceded by Nuno Coelho (Sporting Braga) after a foul in the penalty area.
- 83mins
Penalty Manchester United. Wayne Rooney draws a foul in the penalty area.
- 83mins
Attempt saved. Javier Hern'andez (Manchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ryan Giggs.
- 82mins
Foul by Dougl~ao (Sporting Braga).
- 82mins
Chris Smalling (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 81mins
Foul by Patrice Evra (Manchester United).
- 81mins
Alan (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 81mins
Offside, Manchester United. Wayne Rooney tries a through ball, but Javier Hern'andez is caught offside.
- 80mins
Goal! Sporting Braga 1, Manchester United 1. Robin van Persie (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ryan Giggs following a fast break.
- 79mins
Foul by Rub'en Amorim (Sporting Braga).
- 79mins
Anderson (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 77mins
Attempt blocked. Rafael (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
- 76mins
Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Nuno Coelho.
- 76mins
Attempt blocked. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Antonio Valencia.
- 75mins
Foul by Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga).
- 75mins
Chris Smalling (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 73mins
Substitution, Manchester United. Rafael replaces Nani because of an injury.
- 73mins
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
- 72mins
Delay in match Nani (Manchester United) because of an injury.
- 71mins
Foul by Elderson (Sporting Braga).
- 71mins
Antonio Valencia (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 70mins
Cust'odio (Sporting Braga) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 70mins
Robin van Persie (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 70mins
Foul by Cust'odio (Sporting Braga).
- 69mins
Offside, Sporting Braga. Hugo Viana tries a through ball, but Elderson is caught offside.
- 68mins
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 68mins
Foul by Leandro Salino (Sporting Braga).
- 66mins
Eder (Sporting Braga) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 65mins
Foul by Eder (Sporting Braga).
- 65mins
Anderson (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 65mins
Corner, Sporting Braga. Conceded by Antonio Valencia.
- 64mins
Substitution, Manchester United. Robin van Persie replaces Danny Welbeck.
- 63mins
Attempt saved. Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the centre of the goal.
- 62mins
Attempt saved. Nuno Coelho (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
- 62mins
Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 62mins
Foul by Anderson (Manchester United).
- 57mins
Substitution, Manchester United. Rio Ferdinand replaces Jonny Evans.
- 57mins
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
- 57mins
Delay in match (Manchester United).
- 56mins
Hand ball by Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).
- 52mins
Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Dougl~ao.
- 52mins
Attempt blocked. Nani (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Ryan Giggs.
- 49mins
Goal! Sporting Braga 1, Manchester United 0. Alan (Sporting Braga) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
- 48mins
Penalty conceded by Jonny Evans (Manchester United) after a foul in the penalty area.
- 48mins
Penalty Sporting Braga. Cust'odio draws a foul in the penalty area.
- 47mins
Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 47mins
Foul by Antonio Valencia (Manchester United).
- 45mins
Second Half begins Sporting Braga 0, Manchester United 0.
- 45mins
First Half ends, Sporting Braga 0, Manchester United 0.
- 45mins
Foul by Hugo Viana (Sporting Braga).
- 45mins
Anderson (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 45mins
Attempt blocked. Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Rub'en Amorim.
- 38mins
Chris Smalling (Manchester United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 38mins
Foul by Chris Smalling (Manchester United).
- 38mins
Eder (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 35mins
Foul by Leandro Salino (Sporting Braga).
- 35mins
Danny Welbeck (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
- 31mins
Attempt saved. Alan (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
- 30mins
Attempt missed. Jonny Evans (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Antonio Valencia with a cross following a corner.
- 30mins
Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Rub'en Amorim.
- 28mins
Nani (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 28mins
Foul by Hugo Viana (Sporting Braga).
- 26mins
Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Nuno Coelho.
- 25mins
Attempt missed. Hugo Viana (Sporting Braga) left footed shot from more than 35 yards is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alan.
- 22mins
Corner, Sporting Braga. Conceded by Chris Smalling.
- 22mins
Attempt blocked. Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
- 22mins
Eder (Sporting Braga) hits the left post with a header from the centre of the box. Assisted by Hugo Viana with a cross.
- 22mins
Foul by Javier Hern'andez (Manchester United).
- 22mins
Dougl~ao (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 21mins
Attempt missed. Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Alan with a cross.
- 19mins
Offside, Sporting Braga. Leandro Salino tries a through ball, but Alan is caught offside.
- 17mins
Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 17mins
Foul by Chris Smalling (Manchester United).
- 16mins
Attempt missed. Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Alan.
- 15mins
Foul by Eder (Sporting Braga).
- 15mins
Chris Smalling (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
- 14mins
Offside, Sporting Braga. Dougl~ao tries a through ball, but Alan is caught offside.
- 12mins
Attempt missed. Leandro Salino (Sporting Braga) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Eder.
- 8mins
Attempt blocked. Ruben Micael (Sporting Braga) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
- 6mins
Attempt missed. Eder (Sporting Braga) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right misses to the left. Assisted by Dougl~ao with a through ball.
- 5mins
Offside, Manchester United. Wayne Rooney tries a through ball, but Nani is caught offside.
Match Preview
United will look to continue their 100% record in the Champions League when they travel to Portugal to face group rivals Braga.
The Manchester club are unbeaten so far in this season's group stage of the Champions League after Sir Alex Ferguson vowed a repeat of last season's embarrassing 3rd place finish in the group would not happen and so far he's stick to his word. With United getting wins at home and on the road in Europe, beating Galatasaray and Braga at home and CFR Cluj away . Although some will argue United have not hit top form in the competition as of yet. They'll be hoping to do that against Braga to make it four wins on the bounce as they look to progress into the knock-out stages. Braga however will be looking to build on their win over Galatasaray and push for a spot in the next round.
Many would agree that Manchester United haven't yet hit top form, in any competition although they have been winning games. Which is often said to be the mark of champions, grinding out results even when the team isn't performing at it's best. They have certainly looked better in Europe this season, winning their first three matches in the group stages home and away and with Rooney and Van Persie now linking up well and Hernandez getting back to top form Braga should be wary of the potency of this new up-front combination. The only concern United will have when they face the Portuguese team is the rate at which they have been letting in goals. Conceding 23 goals in all competitions already this season.
Last Five Results:
Manchester United 2 – 1 Arsenal
Chelsea 5 – 4 Manchester United
Chelsea 2 – 3 Manchester United
Manchester United 3– 2 Braga
Manchester United 4 – 2 Stoke
Braga come into the match on good form domestically and in Europe, have won 4 of their last five matches and drawing only one, scoring 15 goals in the process. Although they did lose to Cluj despite the fact they wer e the more dangerous team on the night.
Last Five Results:
Braga 3 – 1 Gil Vicente
Maritimo 0 – 2 Braga
Manchester United 3 – 2 Braga
Braga 3 – 0 Leixoes
Braga 4 – 4 Olhanense
The title of star man is normally pretty straight forward for United, Wayne Rooney has been the main threat at the Manchester club since the departure of Ronaldo. But since the arrival of RVP it has been a closer contest, the way Van Persie has got United out of a few sticky situations already this season is impressive, scoring a hat-trick to deny Southampton a famous win, also scoring a brace to see of Cluj single handedly. But despite RVP's imperious form I still have to go with Wayne Rooney, he can score the goals, provide the passes for the goals and a whole lot more. He really is United's talisman and if they were to be without him for a long period of time I think they would struggle to maintain their winning form even with the likes of Robin Van Persie in the team.
Braga's star man has to be Eder. He is there main goal threat and has already scored four goals for the club in the Portuguese league this season. Although I have to point out another dangerous player in their ranks, Alan who is their main architect playing on the right wing. He has an awesome final ball and notched seven assists for his team last season.
United will be looking to continue their winning form which has seen them beat Chelsea and Arsenal in the space of a week in the Premier League and pushed them to the top of the table after slip-ups from rivals Manchester City and Chelsea
Braga have previously only ever faced United once before, and that was this season where they lost 3-2 at Old Trafford. They have played against English teams on a previous 15 occasions. Winning just five, drawing two and losing eight of those encounters. Statistics that bode well for Manchester United.
Prediction
I'm predicting a win for United, all the facts and statistics go against Braga, although I'm sure many of you will be thinking anything is possible in football, which is of course entirely true. United won't find it easy against this gritty and determined Portuguese side who will be looking to upset the odds.
Manchester United 2 – 0 Braga
The usual candidates Rooney and Van Persie to get on the score sheet.
Match Report
possession
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