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Manchester United produced a dominant performance to breeze past Rangers in a 2-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Following a disappointing 1-0 loss to Rosenborg on Monday, Man United would surely want to impress against Rangers, particularly with more first-team stars returning to action.
While Rangers had more control of the ball at the start, United’s backline looked calm and collected, with new signing Leny Yoro showing great composure on his debut. Unfortunately, Casemiro appeared as if he wasn’t quite over his poor form from last season, giving the ball away with one of his first touches of the match.
The Brazilian made amends soon after, floating a threatening cross to Amad at the far corner, who dribbled past the full-back and sent in a pass that went out for a corner. Casemiro got his head on the incoming cross, however, his header went wide.
10 minutes in, Yoro impressed with a sublime sliding tackle to cut out a Rangers’ counter-attack off a free kick.
Seven minutes later, Amad was away on a blistering counter-attack, sprinting down the right wing and sending a pass to Wheatley, whose shot was deflected wide.
Following a foul, United were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. Amad thumped in a well-struck left-footed shot that narrowly whizzed past the near post.
In the minutes that followed, United continued pressing the Rangers’ defence, earning a corner which was wasted after being taken short. It wasn’t long until United were on their next attack, with Wan-Bissaka winning a corner when his cross was deflected.
After the corner was cleared, Mount and Sancho enjoyed an impressive give-and-go, crossing the ball to one another on opposite flanks in an effort to create space. While the keeper ultimately caught an incoming ball, United were showing promising signs of attacking creativity that seemed to indicate some scoring potential.
14 minutes before the break, Rangers got their first clear chance when striker Cyriel Dessers got on the end of a well-timed cross. While Yoro was unable to block the incoming shot, Onana comfortably scooped up the ball.
Moments later, Rangers scooped up a loose ball with Scott Wright getting on the end of a through ball. Ultimately, Onana caught the incoming shot with ease.
Soon after, it was United on the attack, with Casemiro’s long-range effort deflected out for a corner.
While Yoro gave the ball away to Rangers winger Wright to counter, he made up for his error by sprinting back and blocking Collyer’s shot after he received the ball from his teammate. A promising show of awareness and pace from the new signing.
Seven minutes from the break, Mason Mount sprinted up the field before laying the ball off to Amad on the wing. With an impressive dribbling effort, Amad cut into the box and struck a wondrous shot past the keeper to the far post. An excellent moment of individual brilliance from Amad as well as a well-deserved opening goal for United.
In the 44th minute, Amad found himself in a similar area to when he scored. Rather than shoot, he laid the ball off to Sancho, who belted his effort over the crossbar. Sancho will be frustrated with himself for missing such a lucrative scoring opportunity.
It was a respectable first half for United, who were much improved compared to their previous match. Erik ten Hag would surely hope to keep the momentum going once the match resumes.
With an entirely new lineup barring Onana, United were embroiled in a midfield battle with Rangers for much of the opening minutes of the second half. The new, younger lineup appeared to be struggling to break down the Rangers’ defence.
62 minutes in, United finally appeared to take control as Hannibal drove forward only to be taken down on the edge of the box. Unfortunately, they could do little with the free kick to rattle the Rangers’ defence.
Two minutes later, the Scottish side threatened United’s goalmouth with a soaring cross into the box that put Onana under pressure. While the United shot-stopper struggled to deal with the cross, he managed to get his hands on the ball and quell the attack, doing well given the heavy rain gushing down.
In the 69th minute, United doubled their lead. Oyedele made a clever through pass to Hugill, who took a thunderous first-touch shot that left the keeper with no chance of making a save.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Rangers almost found a breakthrough when a soaring cross fell to Matondo, who breezed past Fish with relative ease. Fortunately for United, Onana was on high alert and caught the ball in time to quash the danger.
Three minutes from time, Onana made a fantastic diving save to deny a close-range effort.
As the full-time whistle blew, United could feel a sense of pride given their strong showing against a clearly weaker Rangers side. Ten Hag will be happy to continue this momentum as United embark on their US tour.
Starting XI: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Murray, Evans, Mount, Collyer, Wheatley, Yoro, Amad, Casemiro, Sancho
Subs: Oyedele, Fish, Mejbri, Ogunneye, Mather, Bennett, Fletcher, Ennis, Hugill, Amass
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