On the day that Rasmus Hojlund was officially unveiled, Manchester United recovered from a halfway-line stunner to comfortably beat French side RC Lens 3-1 in a pre-season friendly at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils put on a second-half show on Saturday in order to come from behind and see off Champions League opposition.
Andre Onana arrived at Man Utd with a reputation for an adventurous approach to goalkeeping. The opening 20 minutes had already demonstrated his strengths, effortlessly pinging the ball around the Theatre of Dreams and stepping out of his box to intercept. But Florian Sotoca underscored the risk that also exists.
Diogo Dalot shovelled a wayward pass behind Raphael Varane, into the stride of Lens’ lone striker. Sotoca fired a first-time effort from the centre circle over a stranded Onana, sending the ball and Man Utd’s keeper hurtling into the net.
It was a freakish finish for any football match but proved particularly anomalous given the hosts’ domination of proceedings.
Moments before Sotoca’s 45-yard screamer, Mason Mount missed from around five yards out. Bruno Fernandes’ brilliant switch of play split Lens apart. Alejandro Garnacho squared for Mount, presenting Man Utd’s new number seven with a shot at an unguarded net, yet he could only swipe at thin air.
Man Utd trudged in at half-time frustrated but were ahead within ten minutes of the restart. Antony created Marcus Rashford’s 48th-minute equaliser before crisply finding the bottom corner himself.
Lens conceded a league-low 29 goals en route to an impressive second-placed finish in Ligue 1 behind Paris Saint-Germain last term. However, Man Utd sliced through the visiting black shirts with increasing ease, popping the ball around with a swagger.
Casemiro inadvertently robbed Rashford of his second of the afternoon, deflecting his teammate’s header from a set piece beyond Brice Samba to extend United’s lead before the hour mark.
As Lens coach Franck Haise emptied his bench, disrupting the flow of the closing stages, Erik ten Hag’s thoughts may have flickered towards the coming campaign. Man Utd still have another friendly against Athletic Club on Sunday but the vast majority of a strong starting XI will surely be saved for the Premier League opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers next Monday. Whether Hojlund will be involved by then remains to be seen.
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
GK: Andre Onana – 6/10 – Utterly unfazed by Sotoca’s wonder goal – which, in truth, was hardly his fault. If anything, Onana stepped further forward after getting lobbed from 45 yards.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 3/10 – Nervy when knocking the ball around as United’s deepest defender.
CB: Raphael Varane – 6/10 – Solid if unspectacular at the heart of defence against his former side.
CB: Lisandro Martinez – 7/10 – The term ‘friendly’ is clearly not part of Martinez’s vocabulary. Left his stamp – quite literally – on any opponent that got too close.
LB: Luke Shaw – 6/10 – Inclined to tuck in alongside his fellow defenders or into central midfield.
CM: Bruno Fernandes – 8/10 – In the mood right from the first whistle, repeatedly and ruthlessly finding gaps in the stitching of Lens.
CM: Casemiro – 8/10 – A brick wall which Lens could not find a way through or around.
CM: Mason Mount – 4/10 – Energetically bounded around the final third with and without the ball but couldn’t make up for that calamitous miss.
RW: Antony – 8/10 – Floating infield off his familiar perch on the right wing, everyone knows what Antony is going to do but far fewer can stop him.
ST: Marcus Rashford – 7/10 – Constantly lurking on the shoulder of the last defender, Rashford took his goal well.
LW: Alejandro Garnacho – 8/10 – Sent a crackle of electricity through the Old Trafford crowd each team he got on the ball.
Substitutes
SUB: Jadon Sancho (68′ for Garnacho) – 6/10
SUB: Omari Forson (81′ for Antony) – N/A
Subs not used: Heaton (GK), Kovar (GK), Lindelof, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Mejbri, Van de Beek, Eriksen, Pellistri
Manager
Erik ten Hag – 7/10 – Whatever he said at half-time clearly worked but Ten Hag wouldn’t have needed to smash any teacups or plug in a hairdryer. United had the better of Lens throughout the contest and got their just rewards after break.
Player of the match – Alejandro Garnacho
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN’s MAN UTD PODCAST: THE PROMISED LAND
On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette react to the news Manchester United have agreed a fee with Atalanta for Rasmus Hojlund.
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
