Erik ten Hag and Manchester United got off to a brilliant start in their pre-season tour with a friendly 2-0 win over Premier League rivals, Arsenal.
The match was played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, United States, in front of a record crowd of 82,262.
Manchester United’s new captain Bruno Fernandes gave his side an early advantage with a long rang effort. Gunners goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale did get a strong hand to the ball, but still failed to stop the goal. Just seven minutes later, Jadon Sancho doubled United’s lead, as he capitalised on Gabriel Magalhaes’ missed clearance and completed a brilliant finish past Ramsdale, putting the ball at the roof of the net.
In the second half, Arsenal’s Kai Havertz had the best chance to score. He was picked out by a cross from Martin Odegaard, but the former Chelsea forward’s header did not hit the target.
Arsenal, who had fielded new signings Havertz , Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber for the match, put on a dissapointing performance, which was made worse by a loss in penalty shootout as well. In the shootout, United converted all five of their spot kicks.
Arsenal started their pre-season on July 8 with a 1-1 draw against Watford and followed it with a 1-1 draw against FC Nurnberg five days later. After this loss to United, they have matches against Barcelona, Monaco and Manchester City. They will take on Premier League Champions City for the FA Community Shield, as per Sky Sports.
This is United’s third friendly of the summer having already beaten Leeds and Lyon in earlier contests.
They have a hectic schedule over the coming weeks with clashes against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Wrexham to come this month still.
Next month, there is no slowing down with matches against Lens and Athletic Bilbao to come before the new Premier League season gets underway.
United have already signed Mason Mount and Andre Onana, though the latter did not make the squad on Saturday night.
