Manchester United beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Alexis Sanchez opened up the scoring, assisted by Matteo Darmian and Ander Herrera, assisted by Sanchez doubled the lead. Karim Benzema got a goal back at the end of the first half. Real Madrid asked plenty of questions of United’s defence, passing the test.
Sanchez was the Man of the Match for me. A goal and an assist. His pace, added to his athleticism, physicality and the fact he’s had a break this summer could put him into the zone when the new season starts. It looks like he could be leading the line with Romelu Lukaku still on holiday and Anthony Martial, for want of a better description, AWOL. It was a good test against Real Madrid, who played plenty of youth throughout the game.
Ander Herrera’s goal, putting United 2-0 up came after some good play by the Spaniard. Sanchez made the assist after Juan Mata started the attack from the right flank. Sanchez’s vision saw Herrera in a better position, laying the ball on the him, putting United 2-0 up and cruising at the time. Karim Benzema scored a consolation in added time at the end of the first half of the game.
United will be heading back to Manchester through the night, ready for their next game against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Sunday evening. The tour was not the best for the American supporters, which is because of the FIFA World Cup. United were missing 14 first team players ahead of this match, and considering the result, the weakened side did very well, especially only losing once at the hands of Liverpool.
Goals: Alexis Sanchez 18′, Ander Herrera 27′
Assists: Matteo Darmian 18′, Alexis Sanchez 27′
Manchester United: De Gea; Darmian, Bailly, Fosu-Mensah, Shaw; Fred (Tuanzebe 68′), A. Pereira, Herrera; Mata (Garner 82′), Sanchez, McTominay (Mitchell 79′)
Substitutes Not Used: Grant, J. Pereira; Williams; Hamilton, Gomes; Chong, Bohui, Greenwood