Manchester United 4-0 Sabah FK: Red Devils hammer debutants to kickstart UCL campaign

Manchester United got their UEFA Champions League campaign off to the perfect start yesterday evening with a 4-0 win over tournament debutants, Sabah FK.

As it happened

Although the Reds were clearly the dominant side, it took 27 minutes to open the scoring after a Sabah mistake in midfield gave United possession and led Patrick Dorgu down the left wing, with a cross to set up Matheus Cunha for a simple finish, and his first-ever Champions League goal.

They doubled their lead 15 minutes later as a wobbly Youri Tielemans kept his balance long enough to pass into the path of Bruno Fernandes, who calmly put the ball past Stas Pokatilov. A somewhat hesitant Benjamin Sesko added a third to the tally just three minutes later, dancing the ball through the Sabah defenders after successfully receiving Bryan Mbeumo’s long ball.

The fourth and final goal of the game came from a United free kick. Fernandes clipped the ball delicately over the Sabah wall into the feet of Joshua Zirkzee, who, at the mercy of two defenders, backheeled it goalwards towards Pokatilov, who cracked under the pressure and spilt it into Lisandro Martinez’s feet, allowing him to tap in goal number four from the goal line.

Despite the immense pressure of playing their first-ever Champions League fixture away at Old Trafford, Sabah had some notable chances. They were unlucky not to level just eight minutes after the first goal as Joy-Lance Mickels misplaced a simple header right in front of goal, putting it wide of the post. Mickels took his side’s second big chance of the game in the 86th minute but again went wide after making a strong effort to get past Leny Yoro.

Their third chance came in the second minute of injury time as Mickels put in an excellent ball for Orphe Mbina. He was able to get between the defence, but his shot was tipped over the bar by Senne Lammens, denying their consolation goal.

The comfortable scoreline allowed for flexibility in squad rotation, with Michael Carrick choosing to bring on youngsters Shea Lacey and Harry Amass as well as new signing Andrey Santos in his fourth appearance for the club after signing this summer.

The opportunity to rest the legs of more senior members of the squad will not have gone underappreciated as Carrick and his team prepare to host local rivals Manchester City in the derby at Old Trafford this Sunday in what is probably their biggest fixture of the season so far.

As Manchester United are welcomed back to the Champions League for the first time since the introduction of the league format, they sit in fourth, level on points with 16 other teams but bolstered by goal difference. Sabah are 34th out of 36 teams with a marginal goal difference, meaning they are not dead last.