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Manchester United earned a first victory of pre-season on Saturday with an assured 2-0 win over Rangers in Scotland.
A pinpoint left-footed strike from Amad in the 39th minute and a fierce drive by Joe Hugill on 70 minutes proved the difference for the Reds in Edinburgh.
The runout at Murrayfield was another opportunity to build up fitness as 21 players got minutes under their belts, and Erik ten Hag saw a much-improved performance following Monday’s 1-0 reverse against Rosenborg in our first friendly of the summer.
Fans saw a first glimpse of French defender Leny Yoro, who had a solid first 45 minutes in a United shirt following his arrival from Lille on Thursday. Ten Hag named a mixture of youth and experience in his line-up, which included the return of Jadon Sancho, who made his first United appearance since 26 August last year after returning from a loan spell at Borussia Dortmund.
Rangers, whose Scottish Premiership season begins on 3 August, had two familiar faces in their XI as former Reds keeper Jack Butland captained the side and ex-forward Tom Lawrence was also in from the off.
FIRST HALF – AMAD ON TARGET
Bagpipes were played from the stadium roof as both sides were afforded a traditional Scottish welcome. Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes to enable fans to safely get into the stadium and the bumper crowd of 56,574 witnessed a composed start from the Reds, who enjoyed plenty of early possession.
Casemiro, wearing the captain’s armband again, had the first sighting of goal but his towering header from a Mason Mount corner drifted wide of the target.
At the other end, Yoro made a positive first impression with a perfectly-timed last-ditch challenge to poke the ball away from Cyriel Dessers as the Rangers striker latched on to Lawrence’s forward pass.
The Reds almost took the lead in the 17th minute when the lively Amad – who had a loan spell with Rangers in the 2021/22 season – got the better of Gers left-back Jefte and pulled it back for Ethan Wheatley, whose low shot was diverted behind for a corner inside the six-yard box by Diomande. Amad came close himself soon after as the Ivorian won a free-kick 20 yards out and curled it inches over the crossbar.
Andre Onana – back in goal on the first anniversary of his arrival at the club – was called upon to make routine saves low down from Dessers, Scott Wright and Tom Lawrence in the space of a few minutes as Rangers came into proceedings.
But United made the breakthrough six minutes before the break as Amad marked his first appearance of pre-season in style, cutting inside from the right after receiving the ball from Mount and unleashing a low shot from just inside the box which found the far corner of Butland’s goal.
Watch Amad’s goal v Rangers Video
Watch Amad’s goal v Rangers
📽 MATCH MOMENT | A perfectly placed strike from Amad put us ahead against Rangers, live on MUTV…
It should have been 2-0 moments before the half-time whistle blew as Amad again caused problems down the right flank and unselfishly laid the ball into the path of Sancho, who fired over the crossbar unchallenged inside the box.
SECOND HALF – HUGILL SEALS VICTORY
As expected, Ten Hag made changes aplenty at the interval, with Onana – who took over the captain’s armband – the only player to stay on the pitch.
It naturally took some time for the young Reds introduced into the action to find their feet as Rangers tried to seize a foothold.
Will Fish, who had two spells with Hibernian in Edinburgh, did well to get back to halt the progress of Rangers’ only half-time sub Rabbi Matondo, who also tested Onana with a shot from just outside the box.
Our opponents continued to turn the screw in the Edinburgh rain as Wright curled a long-range shot wide of the post.
But against the run of play, the Reds doubled the advantage in the 70th minute as Joe Hugill crashed an unstoppable strike past Butland, in off the crossbar from the edge of the box, after latching on to a neatly threaded pass forward by Maxi Oyedele.
Hugill makes it 2-0 – with a rocket! Video
Hugill makes it 2-0 – with a rocket!
📽 MATCH MOMENT | Joe Hugill doubled our lead with an emphatic effort, created by fellow Academy Red Maxi Oyedele…
Phillipe Clement’s Rangers controlled the latter stages of the proceedings and Onana made a superb save to deny Ridvan Yilmaz to preserve his clean sheet, but United had already got the job done in the Scottish capital, in what was a worthwhile exercise for Ten Hag as our pre-season preparations continued.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Reds will soon embark on a flight to the United States, ahead of facing Premier League rivals Arsenal at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday 28 July at 01:00 BST as Tour 2024, presented by Snapdragon, officially gets under way.
Like all of our pre-season fixtures, the friendly against the Gunners will be screened live on MUTV.
LINE-UPS: FIRST HALF
United: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Yoro, Evans, Murray; Casemiro (c), Collyer; Amad, Mount, Sancho; Wheatley.
Rangers: Butland (c); Sterling, Souttar, Davies, Jefte; Diomande, Barron; Cortes, Lawrence, Wright; Dessers.
LINE-UPS: SECOND HALF
United: Onana (c); Ogunneye, Fish, Bennett, Amass; J.Fletcher, Oyedele; Mather, Hannibal, Ennis; Hugill.
Subs not used: Mee, Vitek, Aljofree, Jackson, Scanlon.
Rangers: Butland (c); Sterling (King 75), Souttar (Goldson 75), Davies (Balogun 75), Jefte (Ridvan 75); Diomande (McKinnon 75), Barron (Dowell 75); Cortes (Matondo HT), Lawrence (McCausland 75), Wright (Lowry 75); Dessers (Danilo 75).
Subs not used: Kelly, Budinauckas.
Referee: Don Robertson.
Attendance: 56,574.
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