Man Utd highlights and lowlights from Club America pre-season friendly

Manchester United kicked off their pre-season tour with a 1-1 draw against Club America, a match in which several Red Devils debutantes impressed in Phoenix.

United went one goal down to the Mexican side after an hour when Henry Martin won a free header in the penalty area, powering the ball past Joel Pereira.

Jose Mourinho’s men were able to equalise before the end of play with a driven shot from Juan Mata that managed to creep across the line.

United were without several starters for the first leg of their tour. Alexis Sanchez, along with World Cup stars Paul Pogba, Fred, Romelu Lukaku, David de Gea, Marcus Rashford, Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard are expected to join the squad over the course of the next week.

In their absence, Mourinho gave an opportunity to the club’s burgeoning youth to showcase their skills with performances from Tahith Chong and Andreas Pereira impressing the Old Trafford faithful.

Here are the highlights and lowlights from Thursday evening’s clash.

Highlights

Tahith Chong impresses on his first-team debut

Chong, 18, was drew praise for his 30-minute appearance on Thursday, as he played confidently on the wing and contributed to United’s equaliser.

Mourinho, who still has reservations about the youngster’s physical attributes, heaped praise on him after the game in Phoenix. “He was good,” Mourinho told MUTV. “He came with the intention to show, and in a moment where we have no strikers on the pitch, Martial was the only one and then he left, so we needed people to create, have some initiative, which he did.

“The action for the cross for the goal is a beautiful action. He was enthusiastic, he was confident to play,” Mourinho added.

“Of course physically he has his limitations, and when he has one more touch and he allows that body contact of course he loses it, but when he makes the ball move and attacks people one against one, he has quality. He’s a good kid.”

Juan Mata salvages a draw

It was looking like United were heading for a semi-embarrassing defeat against the Mexican side, but that was until the Spaniard came to their rescue in the 78th minute.

Mata played almost a false No.9 late in the second half, which allowed him to be in the right position for the goal. After Chong fired in a cross, Herrera headed against the right post and Mata was on point to fire it through Marchesin between the sticks.

Andreas Pereira shines in midfield

The midfielder played well during 2017-18 during his loan spell with Valencia. He only started 11 La Liga matches, but scored and registered three assists.

Pereira played was incisive at the base of United’s midfield against Club America. His forward passing, sharp thinking and overall performance has prompted United fans to urge Mourinho to give the Brazilian a regular place in the first team next season.

With the signing of Fred and competition from Nemanja Matic, McTominay and Herrera that might be a tall order for the youngster, but Thursday’s performance is a promising sign.

Lowlights

Close but no cigar for Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw still hasn’t managed to register a senior goal for the Red Devils as he misses by inches on Thursday night. In 166 games for Southampton and United, Shaw hasn’t hit the back of the net once.

Shaw almost ended the career-long drought in the first half, but his right-footed effort from just inside the box was dragged inches wide.

Shaw played well despite the miss, however, as the Englishman looks to establish himself as the club’s first-choice left-back next season.

Bailly and Smalling caught out for Club America’s opener

United’s pre-season skirmish still hasn’t solved their centre-back partnership woes that plagued the Old Trafford outfit last campaign.

A lack of communication seemed to be the problem here when Henry Martin succeeded in carving out space between Smalling and Bailly to head home on the hour mark.

It’s United’s lack of reliable presence in central defence that partially explains Mourinho’s overly-cautious approach, which requires attacking players to spend an inordinate amount of time tracking back.

Anthony Martial misfires

Anthony Martial has failed to register a goal since Alexis Sanchez arrived at the club and that drought continued in Phoenix.

Martial played well enough and was a threatening presence on United’s left flank. But his menace was without an end product as he squandered multiple chances.

The Frenchman was left out of his national side’s triumphant World Cup campaign. If he wants earn a regular first-team place for United and France he will have to find his shooting boots very soon, as he’s in direct competition with Sanchez, Rashford, Lukaku.

 

The post Man Utd highlights and lowlights from Club America pre-season friendly appeared first on Squawka News.

From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2uT5jXs