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MOTD- Bayer Leverkusen 0-5 Manchester United

By on November 27, 2013

Although one could easily see Manchester United struggling without Robin van Persie, Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick away against Bayer Leverkusen, who had previously been undefeated at home this season, David Moyes’ side came out with United’s biggest ever away win in the Champions League.  Thrashing a side that sit second in the Bundesliga, brilliance from Wayne Rooney, Shinji Kagawa and the ageless Ryan Giggs put United through to the knockout stages of the Champions League with one match to spare.

Leverkusen manager Sami Hyypia was left in a glum state at the end of the match, despite the fact that his side still have a good chance of finishing second in Group A and advancing to the Round of 16.  Yet the ex-Liverpool defender will have to get a much better performance out of his men if they are to get a result out of their final group game against Real Sociedad.  Leverkusen were nothing short of pathetic even in the early stages of the encounter, nearly falling behind just a quarter of an hour into the match when Nani curled a brilliant effort just over the bar from the left side of the box.  United took advantage of Leverkusen’s horrible beginning to the night, and took the lead through Antonio Valencia in the twenty-first minute.  Giggs fed the ball out to Rooney on the left, and the forward lofted a beautiful cross towards the back post where Valencia tapped into the back of the net at full trot.

It took only eight more minutes for it to become two for United through more sloppy Leverkusen work.  Rooney curled a free-kick from the left into the mixer and Emir Spahic rose up to head it clear, but only managed to flick it into the top corner of his own net to double his side’s deflect.  Yet somehow Leverkusen briefly held onto the scoreline and made it to halftime down only two.

However, United kept pushing forward and causing Leverkusen major problems.  The visitors came close in the fifty-eighth minute when Nani exchanged a one-two with Rooney down the left before dragging a low shot just wide of the far post from the edge of the box.  Rooney then sent a twenty-five yard shot whizzing inches past the post, yet only had to wait until the sixty-fifth minute for the ball to end up in the back of the Leverkusen net for the third time.  The English international sent in a corner from the right, and after a little ping-pong in the box Jonny Evans tapped home his second-ever Champions League goal.

It soon became a rout with Chris Smalling scoring his first goal of 2013 in the seventy-seventh minute.  Kagawa cut in from the right before dinking a cute pass through to Rooney, who chipped it above Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno to Nani at the far post.  Smalling slotted it into the back of the empty net, yet United made it their biggest away win ever in the Champions League three minutes before the end of regulation time when Giggs, who will celebrate his fortieth birthday on Friday, curled a superb pass over the Leverkusen defense to the run of Nani down the left.  The winger rounded Leno and cut it back into the bottom corner of the net from a tight angle with a cute outside of the boot pass.  Giggs then tried to put the icing on the cake with a twenty-five yard free-kick, but he blasted it into the wall and the match ended 5-0.
Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.