Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has defended his decision to allow Daley Blind to take the penalty instead of Romelu Lukaku during the Champions League encounter against Benfica last night.
Manchester United inched closer to the knockout stages of the Champions League following a 2-0 victory over Benfica at Old Trafford on Tuesday night and it has to be said that the Red Devils managed to coast their way to the three points during the encounter.
Nonetheless, there was an interesting decision made by manager Jose Mourinho in regards to assigning Daley Blind the responsibility of taking the penalty for the second goal on the 78th minute of the game instead of Romelu Lukaku, who has been struggling to find the net in recent times.
Following the match, Mourinho revealed that Anthony Martial was the designated penalty taker for United and explained that Blind was next in line and not Lukaku due to the fact that the Dutchman had impressed in training.
Mourinho said, “I don’t understand why everyone asks me the same. I am paid to take decisions, good or bad. In the first half the decision was bad because the player that I chose (Martial) 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 on it. The penalty taker for this match was Martial. He took in the first half and missed. He was not even on the pitch when the second one was (given) and then I have to make a decision.
“Romelu wants to take, he has the personality to take the responsibility. (Ander) Herrera was the same, but my decision based on what we did in training in the past couple of days was Blind. The players respected my decision and that was it. End of story.”
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