MARCUS RASHFORD, an own goal, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial has fired Manchester United to a comfortable win against Melbourne Victory.
Christopher Ikonomidis latched on to a ball across the box to give the Australian side an early 1-0 advantage Down Under.
Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof did not cover themselves in glory during the build-up to the opener, but their blushes were spared by the late second-half surge.
- Man Utd team: Heaton, Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, McTominay, Bruno, Sancho, Elanga, Martial.
- Man Utd subs: Bishop, Kovar, Bailly, Rashford, Malacia, Amad, Telles, Pellistri, Wan-Bissaka, Van de Beek, Laird, Chong, Hannibal, Fish, Garnacho, Savage, Zidane Iqubal.
- Melbourne Victory team: Xi, Izzo, Marchan, Broxham, Ikonomidis, Folami, Barnett, Timotheou, Nigro, Miranda, Brimmer.
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A convincing win for United on their pre-season travels.
Thank you for watching it along with us and we will see you back for the next United game.
Coming up
So that’s two games done and two encouraging wins for Manchester United.
Up next they face Crystal Palace and Aston Villa to finish off their tour, before playing Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano at the end of the month as their final friendlies.
And then, at last, it is Brighton at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the season.
FT Melbourne Victory 1-4 Manchester United
Nani, introduced in the last few minutes of the game, has given his reaction to MUTV as he played against his former club seven years after leaving.
He said: “That was fantastic. What a great feeling when you can feel the love from the fans and you come on and see some old teammates. All the good memories came back and make you feel like you are missing the old times. But you have to look forward and I hope to wish the club and team all the best and they start winning all the trophies again.
[On Melbourne] “They are the best fans in the country and I look forward to sharing the stadium with them. [I hope we] have success, work together and I can’t wait for the first game and work together
[On coming off the bench] “No I was not nervous, I was so happy. I wanted to play. Once I came on the field, I thought I could have played more minutes. But we played a great game and are still working and I hope both of these teams have a lot of success this season.
FT Melbourne Victory 1-4 Manchester United
Erik ten Hag has given his reaction to MUTV and said he was impressed with the persistence his players showed in the face of the Australian defence.
He said: “It was difficult for us to create chances but the team reacted really good [to the Melbourne goal] and we created three or four good chances before half time and we turned it around.
“I would say against opponents who come forward it can sometimes be more easy. But when opponents are sat back you have to do more with your decisions and have more intelligence to create something.”
When asked about the impressive performances of the youngsters, he added: “That’s why we took them with us so they get a chance to show what they can contribute to Manchester United. There are lot of possibilities there and it’s good that United have some talent but they also need improvement and development.”
FT Melbourne Victory 1-4 Manchester United
Erik ten Hag will be fairly happy with that, with a couple of performances in particular noteworthy for the new boss.
In the first half, Fernandes and Sancho came alive after 20 minutes and dictated a lot of United’s best forward plays. McTominay and Fred both looked more lively and active than they have for large periods of the last couple of years.
In the second-half once again the youngsters Iqbal, Chong and Savage in particular impressed. And a massive condience-boosting goal for Rashford.
FT Melbourne Victory 1-4 Manchester United
Scott McTominay, who scored a fluky equalising goal, has given his reaction to MUTV on the United victory.
He said: “They were difficult to get through and that forced us to go down the sides. And we kept patient, didn’t panic going a goal down and we can still improve.”
On his goal, he added: “They got a lucky block on my first one but as I say it’s cut backs, getting in the box, and we can all score more goals.
“It’s a massive stadium, it’s amazing to see so many red shirts as well. The fans were outside the hotel as well and they’ve given us crazy support.”
Full-Time: Melbourne Victory 1-4 Manchester United
It’s another win by a three goal margin and another very encouraging victory for Erik ten Hag.
While they took a while to get going in the first half, they showed a commitment to their possession football and seemed to have adapted well to the stylistic changes brought in by their new manager.
And several players showed brilliant moments of quality, with Chong at the end adding his name to that list as he created the fourth goal. Rashford, Martial and McTominay got the other goals as United came from a goal down to recover.
Melbourne Victory 1-4 Manchester United
89′ Own goal and the cherry on top of the cake for United! Tahith Chong had a bit of space out wide, showed a brilliant turn of pace and drove a low ball in.
Lupancu then converts it into his own net as he makes a desperate attempt to clear.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Manchester United
87′ Nani may have just triggered quite literally the biggest cheer of the night as he comes on as part of multiple Melbourne substitutions.
He looks quite emotional as he is greeted warmly by all 100,000 fans in the stadium.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Manchester United
85′ A big cheer as Nani emerges from the dugout. The ex-United winger is about to come on with only a few minutes to go.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Manchester United
84′ Iqbal almost finds Van de Beek with a clipped ball forward, but the Dutchman isn’t tall enough for the pass.
Just a word on Van de Beek, who has been playing higher than usual in the Fernandes role. He hasn’t managed to establish himself enough in this second-half you could argue, and has become a bit lost in the Melbourne defence.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Manchester United
82′ Rashford should probably have had a second. Malacia has put a wonderful cross in from the left and Rashford had a free header from about 8 yards out.
He directs it straight at the keeper, and will know he should have done better.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Manchester United
80′ Melbourne with their first real chance of the second half.
The sub Velupillay is played in into the box but fires his shot wide at the near post. Heaton was worried enough to commit to the dive.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Manchester United
78′ Rashford has wrapped this game up! Bailly, similar to what he did against Liverpool, steps forward and puts a wonderful pass in behind for Rashford to run onto.
And Rashford, like he did back in his vintage days, slips it pass the keeper effortlessly. A big goal to boost his confidence, and a moment of quality by Bailly to try and make ten Hag to forget about his lapses in defence.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
75′ For the second time in 10 minutes, Eric Bailly has given the ball away from a position that puts United in danger.
Thankfully for the Red Devils, Melbourne don’t take advantage even though it was 2 v 2, with Charlie Savage charging back to make up the numbers.
Erik ten Hag, you have to imagine, will be taking notes on Bailly’s laxness in possession.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
73′ Brimmer’s free-kick from wide is comfortably caught by Heaton.
Another United counter-attacking opportunity comes to an end as they once again fail to make the decisive pass.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
69′ Almost calamity there for United. Bailly casually knocks the ball forward but he hits the sub Velupillay who closed him down.
The ball almost drops for a Melbourne attacker in the box after the deflection but Heaton leapt on it.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
67′ Melbourne make a couple of changes, including Folami coming off and being replaced by Velupillay.
Meanwhile, Savage pings a beautiful ball over the top which finds Van de Beek, but he was offside and hit the side netting anyway.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
65′ A counter-attacking opportunity now as United broke from a Melbourne corner. Van de Beek and Chong had a miscommunication at a crucial moment that saw the attack result in the corner.
Izzo leaps to snatch the ball out of the air from the set-piece.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
63′ Amad wins the ball on the edge of the box and he had Rashford free in the centre. But the youngster dinks the ball into the keeper’s gloves, almost as though he was halfway between a shot and a cross. Good opportunity for the Ivorian to make an impact.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
56′ Absolutely wonderful skill by Zidane Iqbal there that will leave United fans purring. He spins a Melbourne defender on the edge of the box before driving into the penalty area.
His cross doesn’t find Rashford unfortunately but he will gain a lot of confidence from that outrageous piece of trickery.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
53′ Telles, interestingly, is playing at centre-back alongside Bailly. Will be interesting to see how the defender, normally at left-back, deals with any attacks from Melbourne, which don’t look like happening any time soon.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
52′ So we have Malacia and Laird playing at full-back, Savage, Iqbal and Van de Beek in midfield, and a front three of Rashford, Amad and Chong up front.
So far United are just keeping the ball and trying to get the second-half team settled in. Iqbal and Savage looking comfortable in midfield again.
47′ Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
So apart from goalkeeper Heaton, the entire United team has changed.
It is now Heaton, Bailly, Rashford, Malacia, Amad, Telles, Van de Beek, Laird, Chong, Savage and Iqbal on the field.
We’re still trying to work out who exactly is playing where.
No changes for Melbourne.
Half-time: Melbourne Victory 1-2 Manchester United
We are seeing a bunch of subs being made for United, including Rashford, Iqbal and Van de Beek all coming on.
The second half is about to get underway.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
