Uefa Champions League: Benfica 0 Manchester Utd 1: Alex Ferguson has waited nearly three years to remind himself what it feels like to win a Champions League tie away from home and it will feel all the sweeter that it should occur at the stadium where their last European campaign self-combusted. United have unhappy memories of Lisbon but Louis Saha's decisive contribution will have done much to ease them on an evening when the result was considerably better than the performance.
Saha's breakaway goal puts Manchester United in such a position of strength in Group F it is now inconceivable that they will emulate last season's failure to qualify for the knockout stages.
Whether they can progress significantly will have to be doubtful judging by the slackness of their passing - seldom can Wayne Rooney have looked so ordinary - but it will not unduly bother Ferguson that this victory was scarcely deserved.
Benfica have a formidable record at home and however difficult they made it for themselves, United are entitled to be pleased by the manner in which they quelled one of Europe's more boisterous crowds.
Estadio da Luz may be known locally as the Cathedral but on nights like this it is transformed into a shrieking, whistling, fire-cracking pit. It is an excitable volatile crowd but there was nothing sacred about the abuse that accompanied Cristiano Ronaldo's every touch.
In a Portugal shirt he is a hero here. For United, he might as well have had 666 imprinted on his back.
The former Sporting Lisbon winger, of course, is well past the stage where he is distracted by provocation.
And Ferguson would have been more concerned with the perplexing form of Rooney, who was shifted to the left wing because the Scot had reverted to the 4-2-3-1 system that he often favours in Europe.
At his exhilarating best the 21-year-old Rooney would excel in any position but this is far from one of the England forward's best periods.
For long spells he was an isolated peripheral figure, struggling to have any kind of impact. His performance in the first half was summed up when Gary Neville picked him out with a free-kick and under no pressure, Rooney miscontrolled the ball and it went out for a goal-kick.
Shortly afterwards Michael Carrick set him running at the defence and once more his touch let him down. However much Ferguson argues against it, Rooney's body language suggests his first prolonged loss of form since joining two years ago.
The frequency with which United conceded possession will have perturbed Ferguson during those stages, not least because the culprits were very often those players who pride themselves on the philosophy that losing the ball is a sin.
Carrick waved an apologetic arm on more than one occasion. The same could be said for Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand while Nemanja Vidic inadvertently set up Nuno Gomes for Benfica's most inviting chance of a fast and frenetic half.
In terms of measured purposeful build-up play, there was little from either team. United's only real moment of penetration was a Ronaldo shot from 25 yards - there was something almost cruel about the manner in which Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring for Real Madrid was played on the big screen at half-time. It is not a debate that Ferguson is willing to enter but without the Dutchman there have to be legitimate doubts that United have the personnel to reach Athens on May 23rd.
The second half was another untidy spectacle featuring a riled Gabriel Heinze remonstrating with Rooney about his positional sense on the left.
Rooney ended the debate by shrugging his shoulders and holding out his arms exasperatedly. Ferguson soon appeared on the touchline and he, too, gave Rooney an angry blast.
Yet within minutes United had broken upfield to score a goal that had never looked like coming. Benfica were guilty of committing too many players forward and Ronaldo found Saha in space on the right. The Frenchman cut inside before unleashing a powerful left-foot drive that took a decisive deflection off Anderson on its way into the net.
The goal lifted United and the winning margin would have been increased were it not for Quim saving three times in succession from Heinze, the substitute Darren Fletcher and then Carrick.
BENFICA: Quim, Alcides, Luisao, Anderson (Mantorras 82), Leo, Petit, Katsouranis, Karagounis (Nuno Assis 62), Paulo Jorge (Miccoli 65), Nuno Gomes, Simao. Subs not used: Moretto, Beto, Nelson, Ricardo Rocha. Booked: Katsouranis, Petit.
MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze, Ronaldo, Carrick, O'Shea, Scholes, Rooney (Fletcher 86), Saha (Smith 85). Subs not used: Kuszczak, Evra, Brown, Solskjaer, Richardson. Booked: Carrick, Scholes, Heinze.
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
