Heading into Thursday’s return to Champions League action, Manchester United had won just once in their last nine games in the competition, with Harry Maguire’s header downing Copenhagen on that occasion.
In that 2023/24 campaign, the Red Devils were chaotic and shambolic, in truth, crashing out of a group stage that remains synonymous with Andre Onana’s string of unforced errors.
Well, it’s still early days in this year’s league phase, but Michael Carrick‘s men looked far more secure this time around, coasting past Azerbaijan side Sabah with relative ease.
It wasn’t all perfect or plain-sailing, it must be said, but most importantly, unlike under Erik ten Hag and co, the hosts simply got the job done at Old Trafford.
How professional Man Utd saw off Sabah
Following a disappointing display and result away at the Hill Dickinson last time out, Thursday night provided the perfect chance for United to put things right, ahead of this weekend’s looming Manchester derby.
Manchester City will provide a sterner test than this Sabah team, and that’s putting it lightly, yet even so, the 4-0 victory was a welcome boost following a mixed start to the season for Carrick’s side.
It was £62.5m man Matheus Cunha who kicked things off after prodding home from Patrick Dorgu’s whipped cross, before some fine combination play involving Cunha, Youri Tielemans and Bruno Fernandes saw the skipper add a second.
Two quickly became three just before the break as Benjamin Sesko rounded the onrushing ‘keeper to slot home, the towering Slovenian beginning to hit his groove with two in two in the space of just five days.
That was largely all she wrote, in truth, with United sensibly taking their foot off the gas and seeing out the game in controlled fashion, with Lisandro Martinez ultimately adding late gloss to the scoreline following some smart play from substitute Joshua Zirkzee.
|
Man Utd Player Ratings vs Sabah |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Rating |
|
GK – Lammens |
7 |
|
RB – Mazraoui |
5 |
|
CB – Yoro |
6 |
|
CB – Martinez |
7 |
|
LB – Dorgu |
7 |
|
DM – Tielemans |
8 |
|
DM – Mainoo |
9 |
|
RM – Mbeumo |
7 |
|
AM – Fernandes |
7 |
|
LM – Cunha |
8 |
|
ST – Sesko |
7 |
Four goals, a clean sheet and a happy home crowd, there’s not more that Carrick could have asked for heading into this weekend’s vital Premier League match-up.
That being said, if the Englishman was using this as a way to decide his team for the visit of Enzo Maresca’s men, not everyone stole the show against Sabah.
Why Man Utd star needs to be dropped for Man City clash
To continue the positivity initially, Thursday night did provide Carrick with the opportunity to shuffle his pack in the second half, while also saving the likes of Marcus Rashford for the Citizens.
The teenage duo of Harry Amass and Shea Lacey got some valuable minutes under their belt, as too did Andrey Santos and the aforementioned Zirkzee, the Dutchman arguably the brightest spark in that second 45.
Plenty then to be encouraged by, even if the opposition didn’t pose too much of a threat, although if there was to be one area of concern, it would be at full-back.
Indeed, while Patrick Dorgu did swoop the Man of the Match, rather generously, some might say, the man on the opposite side, Noussair Mazraoui, was far less impressive at right-back.
At one stage the Moroccan had emerged as a key figure under both Ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, with the decision to sign him on a £13m deal from Bayern Munich looking like such an astute pick-up.
And yet, injury derailed his momentum last season, while it hasn’t been a fruitful start to the new campaign either, the versatile defender failing to build on his fine World Cup form.
His positional rival and teammate, Diogo Dalot, has his critics, yet United do appear to miss the Portuguese’s presence when he doesn’t feature, with Mazraoui just not matching his impact in that right-back berth.
The former Ajax man was notably caught napping at the back post as Sabah squandered a gilt-edged headed chance early on, with Carrick and co left thankful that they weren’t punished for that slack defending.
Mazraoui was relatively untroubled otherwise as United seized control, although he did struggle in an attacking sense, notably lashing an effort into the side netting in the first-half.
A second strike whistled over the crossbar after the break too, while the 28-year-old also failed to successfully complete a single dribble or cross all night.
Defensively too, he failed to win a single tackle and lost 66% of his duels, losing the ball eight times from his 82 total touches as the odd pass or two went astray.
Having been so dependable and reliable in his debut season in Manchester, Mazraoui looks to have firmly fallen behind Dalot in the right-back pecking order, with this latest display showcasing just why.
Indeed, all the talk in the latter stages of the transfer window was centred around the need for a new left-back, but might INEOS come to regret not signing a fresh face on the opposite flank too?
