Header Ads Widget

Responsive Advertisement

Pre-season games: Manchester United beat Real Madrid on penalties after their game finished 1-1 in Santa Clara.

 Pre-season games: Manchester United beat Real Madrid on penalties after their game finished 1-1 in Santa Clara.

Manchester United continued their winning run in pre-season with a penalty shootout victory over Real Madrid in Santa Clara.

Jesse Lingard fired United ahead during the first half at the Levi's Stadium after superb work from Anthony Martial on the left wing.

Victor Lindelof's foul on Theo Hernandez allowed Casemiro to level the scores from the spot after the break.

But it was United who came out on top in a poor shootout, winning 2-1 after five penalties apiece.

Anthony Martial created Jesse Lingard's first-half opener for United with a brilliant piece of skill on the left.

Casemiro levelled for Real from the penalty spot after United's new £31m defender Victor Lindelof brought down Theo Hernandez with a rash challenge.

Seven out of 10 penalties were missed in the shootout, with Casemiro's wild effort ensuring United edged it 2-1.

It was not a great night for Lindelof, who compounded his error during the game with a miss from the spot.

Another negative for United was Ander Herrera lasting only six minutes before going off with a hip injury.

They have now won all four of their matches in the United States and meet Barcelona in their final tour game in Washington on Wednesday.

Wales forward Gareth Bale started for Real in their first pre-season game.

They play Manchester City in Los Angeles on Wednesday before meeting Barcelona in Miami on Saturday.

Martial the mystery

Much of the noise around France forward Martial this summer has centred around him potentially being used as bait to lure Ivan Perisic to Manchester United from Inter Milan.

Considering Martial is 21 - seven years younger than Croatia winger Perisic - it would seem a strange move for United manager Jose Mourinho to agree to.

But Martial has had a largely inconsistent two years at Old Trafford and former United defender Gary Neville said in January the player needed to "realise his potential".

Watching him weave past Luka Modric and Dani Carvajal, then roll a pass to Lingard for United's opener as Raphael Varane closed in, it was easy to see why Mourinho's predecessor, Louis van Gaal, sanctioned his £36m transfer two years ago.

Those are the sparks Martial must show more often.

Midfielder Modric, despite being one of the quiet men at Real Madrid, he has been given the number 10 shirt this season following the departure of James Rodriguez to Bayern Munich.

There is more than one way to make a noise though. Modric does not pout or posture. He simply plays, simply. He seems to see passes half a second before anyone else. And then he delivers them, accurately.

The former Tottenham player was only involved for 45 minutes at the Levi's Stadium, but on three occasions he found team-mates with passes which, if they had been a bit sharper, they might have profited from.

The shootout was quite shambolic to say the least. Casemiro smashed the final kick of the shootout against the crossbar. Ronald McDonald walked out with the teams prior to kick-off. It felt like he was taking part during a shambolic penalty shootout.

Martial set the tone by blazing the first kick way over. After two penalties each, the score was 0-0.. Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally scored for United, only for Lindelof to miss with their next kick. Real were even worse. Only Quezada scored for them, meaning United won when Casemiro blasted against the bar after Daley Blind's unconvincing effort had given the Premier League side the advantage.

'A good training session' - Mourinho

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho: "It was a good training session. A very good first half against a top Real side. In the second half we lost motivation, intensity and appetite to play against their youngsters. My players in the second half were disappointed not to play against their best players.

"We have one injury to Ander Herrera, I don't know how he is but it has to be painful to come off so soon.

"Three out of 10 penalties - that's pre-season. I didn't choose my best penalty takers."

Post a Comment

0 Comments