Manchester United have defeated Melbourne Victory 4-1 in front of a strong crowd of 74,157 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a cold Friday night.
Despite the end score, it was the home side who burst out of the blocks with the intent to stifle Man United and make the most of opportunities in transition.
From the outset, it felt as if Victory were clearly the more prepared for a game of football. Whether it be as a result of fatigue after having played against Liverpool in Bangkok just three days ago, or as a result of merely underestimating their Melbourne opposition, United looked lethargic and struggled to generate many meaningful attacking opportunities early in the first half.
It seemed as if Tony Popović’s side fed off the raucous energy of the crowd and, in particular, their home active support who, despite being visibly outnumbered by a sea of Manchester Red, outsung supporters of the visiting side. The fans behind Paul Izzo’s goal set the tone for the encounter from the outset as they greeted the visitors with chants of “F**k off United” as they walked out onto the pitch.
The home support was only further amplified by a shock early goal from marquee Chris Ikonomidis who calmly caressed a first time finish beyond Tom Heaton from eight yards out. This chance emanated from Man United’s disorganisation in defending transitions which become a common theme throughout the fixture as Victory looked to immediately pounce and profit whenever Erik ten Hag’s men were dispossessed.
For a side playing in an unfamiliar 5-3-2 shape in their first game of pre-season, Victory looked well organised and functional at the back as towering centre-half Roderick Miranda commanded the defensive unit and thwarted several attacking sequences from the opposition.
While ten Hag’s side retained the lion’s share of possession, too many error-strewn passages of play left United struggling to pull any of Victory’s five defenders out of position. The travelling side looked most likely to score from deliveries in wide areas as Jason Sancho and Diogo Dalot formed a nice partnership down their right hand-side to trouble Stefan Nigro.
Oftentimes, Dalot and Sancho exchanged positions as the Portuguese full-back adopted inverted positions in midfield which left Sancho with the time and space to run at Nigro 1v1. This was a common theme of ten Hag’s sides at Ajax, so it is unsurprising that the Dutch manager is using pre-season to refine these patterns of play.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Victory in the first half, however, as United began to seize control over proceedings and carve out opportunities of their own. If it weren’t for Paul Izzo’s swift reflexes, then United could have found themselves equal in the 25th minute as Victory’s new goalkeeper fashioned a brilliant save to deny Bruno Fernandes’ across the body finish.
As the half went on, momentum began to swung in United’s favour as they profited from a piece of good fortune to equalise in the 43rd minute. An errant pass from George Timotheou was swiftly intercepted by Scott McTominay before the Scotsman made the home side pay with a powerful swipe from outside the box which deflected off Jake Brimmer before slowly sailing over Izzo’s goal.
Despite Victory’s admirable first-half performance, United entered the break with a one goal advantage as Antony Martial calmly stroked the ball into the back of the net on the verge of half-time. The Frenchman, who is staking his claim for regular selection after a loan stint at Sevilla, benefitted from a sharp delivery from Dalot whose cutback met Anthony Elanga before arriving at Martial who pounced like a panther at the back post to fire home an easy finish.
United brought wholesale changes after half-time as the young brigade led by Tahith Chong and Zidane Iqbal dazzled on the ball and mesmerised the largely partisan crowd at the MCG. As is often the case in these pre-season games, the intensity of the game died down as the game went on, a facet which largely played into United’s hands given the superior quality of their players.
As Popović’s side began to feel the effects of fatigue given their relative lack of preparation heading into the game, United tightened their grip on proceedings, offering the home side very little ball possession. Young metronome Charlie Savage – the son of former Premier League player Robbie Savage – showcased his calmness on the ball and wide passing range as he excelled in distributing the ball to his side’s more expressive assets.
Nishan Velupillay and Lleyton Brooks produced a couple of moments which made Victory fans get off their seats in the second half, but opportunities were few and far between as the home side remained camped inside their own half while United effortlessly circulated the ball.
Mercurial attacker Marcus Rashford came up with United’s third goal – a composed dinked finish over Izzo in the 79th minute after a mazy run and through ball from Eric Bailly, who was impressive at the heart of United’s defence. Rashford endured a tough 2021/22 season as he struggled for form before being afforded few opportunities for minutes under Ralf Rangnick. The Englishman will undoubtedly benefit from minutes in pre-season as he looks to stake his claim for selection in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the World Cup in November.
An unfortunate own goal from young defender Edmond Lupancu rounded out the scoreline for the visitors as they ended as eventual 4-1 victors.
Despite the scoreline, Popović’s side can take away many positives from their performance as they could Manchester United a few troubles in transition and demonstrated some nice moments of attacking play.
All in all, however, football was the winner as the packed crowd was treated to a quality game of football with some big stars on show.
