Braga 1-3 Man Utd

Manchester United came from a goal
down to beat Braga 3-1 and book their
spot in the last 16 in a UEFA
Champions League Group H game
disrupted by floodlight failure.
Sir Alex Ferguson's men needed just a
point from the trip to Portugal on
Wednesday to advance to the knockout
rounds but went one better as they
made it four group wins from four.
Alan's scored a 49th-minute penalty
after Jonny Evans had brought down
Custodio to put Braga ahead and that
spot-kick was followed by a 12-minute
break as the Estadio AXA floodlights
failed to leave the pitch in darkness.
But United came to life after the restart
as substitute Robin van Persie netted
an 80th-minute equaliser before
Wayne Rooney converted from the
spot after a Douglao challenge on
Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez
scored at the death.
Braga had caused United plenty of
problems early on at Old Trafford last
month, racing into a 2-0 lead inside the
opening 20 minutes before eventually
going down 3-2, and in the spectacular
surroundings of the Estadio AXA the
Portuguese side once again had made
the better start.
The Red Devils were unable to fashion
much from their early possession, but
did register an effort on goal on the
half-hour mark when Evans' tame
header from Antonio Valencia's cross
was easily caught by home goalkeeper
Beto.
Braga were soon back on the attack,
with Alan drilling low into David de
Gea's arms, and the Spaniard then
gathered a free-kick from Viana on his
line after the fit-again Chris Smalling -
making his first appearance of the
season - had been booked for fouling
Eder.
Nani nodded goalwards from another
Valencia cross just before the interval,
but again it did little to trouble Beto.
Four minutes into the second half,
United were behind after Custodio
collided with Evans in the box. The
referee pointed to the spot and Alan -
who had scored Braga's two goals in
the reverse fixture last month - made
no mistake, smashing the penalty into
the roof of the net.
As United looked for a response, a
power cut at the stadium saw some of
the floodlights go out and play was
suspended for around 12 minutes.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson used the
unscheduled break to substitute Evans
for Rio Ferdinand and after play
resumed, De Gea got down to push
away a free-kick by Nuno Coelho.
Ferguson swiftly made further
adjustments, introducing Van Persie for
Danny Welbeck and Rafael for Nani.
The reshuffle certainly had the desired
effect, with Van Persie notching his
11th goal of the season with 10
minutes of normal time remaining, the
Dutchman expertly guiding the ball
over Beto, who had rushed out too
soon and was attempting to get back
to his line.
Rooney was then brought down in the
box by Nuno Coelho and, having taken
his time to decide, the referee again
awarded a penalty. Unlike against
Arsenal, the England forward
converted his spot-kick to hand United
the advantage, and Hernandez
completed the turnaround at the
death, prodding the ball in at the
second attempt after his initial shot
had been blocked on the line.