Manchester United were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Munich. United created very little and at times struggled to match the German side on the pitch. It was a second half header from Javi Martinez which beat David De Gea that ended United’s pre-season with the second defeat of the summer.

Jose Mourinho was boosted ahead of this game with the return of Marcus Rashford, Victor Lindelof, Phil Jones, and Romelu Lukaku. Rashford and Lindelof were fit to start the match with Jones on the bench. Lukaku, however, was left in Manchester, presumably to get himself fit to start, or play a part against Leicester City at Old Trafford on Friday.

The first chance of the game came through Bayern Munich with Arjen Robben flicking the ball to Joshua Kimmich on the overlap, his cross aiming to catch David De Gea out at the near post with the Spanish number one reading the game well, stopping the German side from taking an early lead. Bayern had another chance minutes later with Robben and Thiago Alcantara pressuring De Gea with the Spaniard palming the shot away.

In the 10th minute of the match, De Gea out a long-ball towards Rashford, which was won by Mats Hummels. Two minutes later, Fred was playing well in midfield, always looking for the ball and putting a lot of energy into his performance. He could be the player to provide service in the midfield this season, once he has settled in, which does not seem to be that far ahead into the future.

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Matteo Darmian, who continues to be linked with a move away from United this summer, found Rashford on the right, trying to get the ball around Hummels, who was going to be the main problem in this Bayern defence, nearly getting the ball through but the German international made a lunging tackle, clearing his line. Bayern had an opportunity moments later through Serge Gnabry, De Gea making the save.

United do not seem to be creating much in the forward areas. Lindelof, however, was being kept busy, which is what we all want to see as he will show his abilities, like he did playing for Sweden during the FIFA World Cup. In the 25th minute, Robben out a dangerous ball into Thomas Muller but De Gea was out of his area to stake his claim to the ball, putting a direct ball for Rashford to get in behind but Manuel Never got the ball.

Bayern had another chance to create in the 28th minute after the ball was played in from the right from Muller. However, Robben could not quite get there. There was a water break in the game around the 30 minute mark. During that time, Mourinho was speaking to his players to get the game to change as they had not been playing well until this stage of the game.

After the restart, United continued to sit deep and welcome the pressure. Alexis Sanchez was playing deep on the left and Rashford was not getting much involvement in the game, possibly because this was his first match back after his participation in the World Cup. Robben created a chance in the 36th minute, putting the ball into the box but Eric Bailly made the clearance into Javi Martinez, missed the target with his shot.

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In the 39th minute, United were starting to play a bit better with Luke Shaw driving infield with Mata running into space. Shaw passed the ball into Mata but David Alaba ushered him out-of-the-way. Two minutes later, Sanchez tried to get something started on the left but Kimmich blocked his path. Bayern had a chance in the 43rd minute through Franck Ribery, who tried to shoot from 15-yards, failing to create danger.

The first half ended 0-0 with United on the receiving end of the majority of the pressure in the game, having 34% possession and not even having a shot on goal. I am sure those on Twitter who are used to moaning will be doing just that, unable to differentiate between a pre-season match and a competitive fixture. The half-time team talk could inspire this United side to grab something from this game.

At the start of the second half, Bayern made three changes with Muller, Hummels, and Ribery being replaced by Robert Lewandowski, Jerome Boateng, and Leon Goretzka. Bailly seemed to be carrying an injury early in the second half, being replaced by Chris Smalling in the 51st minute of the match. United had a chance through Shaw in the 52nd minute after a clever pass by Fred. Shaw could not gain control of the ball though.

In the 54th minute, Robben swung a corner in from the right, De Gea stayed on his line, Goretzka met the ball with a header, looping his effort over the crossbar. It should have been the opening goal of the game. Bayern made another change moments later with Juan Bernat replacing Alaba in the 56th minute. Bayern scored in the 59th minute through Martinez, heading past De Gea.

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After the goal, Bayern made two more changes with Thiago and Gnabry being replaced by Rafinha and Kingsley Coman. United had a shot on goal in the 62nd minute of the match with Fred trying his luck from 30-yards. However, his right-footed effort swerved well wide of the post. Mourinho readied some changes with Mata being replaced by Scott McTominay, Phil Jones replacing Darmian and Tim Fosu-Mensah replacing Rashford.

In the 69th minute, Boateng was booked for a challenge on McTominay after he changed his pace to get one over the German defender, who responded by chopping the Academy graduate down. There was another break in play in the 70th minute with the players taking on more fluids. Bayern made another change with Kimmich being replaced by Sebastian Rudy.

Bayern had another chance in the 74th minute fo the match after Lewandowski, who had been very quiet, came to life, turning Jones *surprise* but flashed his shot over the crossbar. After the chance, United continued to welcome Bayern in their area, with the pressure seemingly well matched with United dealing with the German side.

Mourinho made more changes with Demetri Mitchell replacing Shaw, Axel Tuanzebe replacing Lindelof, Lee Grant replacing De Gea and Tahith Chong replacing Fred in the 78th minute. James Garner replaced Herrera in the 81st minute with the Spanish midfielder seemingly carrying a knock. Koman had a chance to create, passing to Goretzka, who hit the side netting.

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Robben had another chance a few minutes later, charging down the right, opening up some space and flashing the ball across the face of the goal which Lewandowski could not find. In the 88th minute, Bayern scored through Robben, but the flag was raised late for offside, thwarting the celebrations of the Dutchman. A minute of stoppage time was played at the end of the match.

The match ended in defeat for United with a pretty lacklustre display but Mourinho’s side. However, looking at the positives, both Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku were yet to return and player who are not he sidelines through injury will also boost things when they have recovered. United do need to sort something out before the closure of the transfer window though, or moving forward from last season will be very hard.

Manchester United: De Gea (Grant 78′); Darmian (Jones 65′), Lindelof (Tuanzebe 78′), Bailly (Smalling 51′), Shaw (Mitchell 78′); Herrera (Garner 81′), Pereira, Fred (Chong 78′); Mata (McTominay 65′), Rashford (Fosu-Mensah 65′), Sanchez

Substitutes Not Used: Greenwood