UCL: Man Utd beat Sabah 4-0 on Champions League return

n n

Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 win on their return to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons as Azerbaijani champions Sabah were taught a lesson on their debut among Europe’s elite on Thursday.

n

Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez were on target at Old Trafford as the Red Devils took advantage of a kind draw to get their Champions League campaign up and running.

n

United have made an uninspiring start to the Premier League, picking up just four points from their opening three games against newly-promoted Hull and Ipswich and a trip to Everton.

n

Yet the difference in class between the three-time European champions and a club only formed nine years ago told once Cunha opened the floodgates on 27 minutes.

n

Sabah navigated four rounds of qualifying to earn their night at the Theatre of Dreams.

n

For coach Valdas Dambrauskas it was a return to Old Trafford after his fairytale rise to the Champions League began with a role at Manchester United Soccer Schools, while working several part-time jobs just to make ends meet.

n

Dambrauskas conceded even before the match that Sabah had leapfrogged a few stages in their development by reaching the Champions League proper before they had even experienced the Europa or Conference League.

n

United boss Michael Carrick could barely have asked for a more forgiving fixture with the Manchester derby against City to come on Sunday.

n

Carrick could afford to leave out Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford, while Youri Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo, Bryan Mbeumo and Sesko were handed a rest in the second half.

n

Undaunted by the 74,000 crowd in United’s first Champions League outing for nearly three years, Sabah started confidently.

n

However, they could not live with the Premier League giants once the Red Devils clicked up through the gears.

n

Patrick Dorgu impressed in Shaw’s absence and whipped in the cross from which Cunha steered home the opening goal at the near post.

n

Two goals in three minutes just before the break killed off the contest.

n

A neat interchange between Tielemans and Fernandes teed up the United captain to slot in his fourth goal in two home appearances this season.

n

Mbeumo then freed Sesko to round Stas Pokatilov and roll into an empty net to mark his first start of the season with a goal.

n

United could afford to coast through the second period but added to their lead thanks to a calamitous moment for Pokatilov.

n

The danger for Sabah looked to have been averted when Joshua Zirkzee’s backheel from Fernandes’s scooped free-kick was blocked.

n

But the ball bobbled around the Kazakh goalkeeper’s feet and he presented Martinez the chance to slam into an empty net.

n

Much tougher tests of what United are capable of back at Europe’s top table await, starting with their next Champions League outing at Atletico Madrid in five weeks’ time.

n

But victory capped a fine week for English clubs with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City also off to winning starts.

n

AFP

n n