Manchester United have recorded their biggest ever away win in the UEFA Champions League, and they've done it in what looked like a massive and difficult match heading into the day. They were at their best and destroyed an uncharacteristically poor Bayer Leverkusen side 5-0, securing a spot in the Round of 16 in the process.
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Manchester Unted: Final score 0-5, hosts downright awful
What looked like a tough road matchup for Manchester United turned into a rout, as Bayer Leverkusen put in an uncharacteristically awful performance.
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Things were fairly open early in the game, with United having a bit more of the play. They erased any hopes Bayer had of getting off to a good start in the 22nd minute, when they put together an excellent counter-attacking move and goal. Shinji Kagawa started it by winning a midfield battle, which resulted in the ball eventually getting worked wide to Wayne Rooney on the left flank. He hit a cross to the back post and Antonio Valencia made the perfect run to finish it off.
Eight minutes later, Emir Spahic gifted United an own goal with a header that would have been hailed as brilliant had it come from a United player. Rooney set it up with a great free kick delivery, which Spahic failed to deal with, heading the ball past Bernd Leno instead of out of the box.
Bayer had a handful of decent chances to pull a goal back in the second half, with their best coming on a corner that featured shots off the post from both Spahic and Stefan Reinartz, but United put the game away in the 65th minute. On a corner, Patrice Evra found some space and forced Leno into a save. While he did well to stop the initial effort, no one cleared the ball away and Jonny Evans capitalized to score on a follow-up chance.
United added two more to make it embarrassing, with Rooney finding Chris Smalling at the back post with a chip in the 77th minute, which was followed up by a brilliant 88th-minute goal from Nani, who scored with a chip over Leno from a narrow angle.
Bayer Leverkusen: Leno, Can, Spahic, Toprak, Donati, Reinartz (Hegeler 70’), Rolfes, Bender (Kohr 81’), Castro, Kießling, Son (Derdiyok 70’)
Goals: None
Manchester United: De Gea, Evra (Büttner 70’), Evans, Ferdinand, Smalling, Giggs, Jones, Nani, Kagawa, Valencia (Young 80’), Rooney (Anderson 80’)
Goals: Valencia (22’), Spahic (own goal 30’), Evans (65’), Smalling (77’), Nani (88’)
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