|
LOS ANGELES -- Marcus Rashford scored twice as Manchester United kicked-off their summer tour with a comfortable 5-2 win over LA Galaxy. Rashford opened the scoring after just two minutes at the StubHub Center in Carson and added a second before half-time to go with goals from Marouane Fellaini, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial. Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof had to settle for places on the bench at the start but came on at half-time to make their United debuts. Giovani dos Santos and Dave Romney scored for the Galaxy late on. If Mourinho wanted a test, he didn't get it but Rashford's performance, in particular, was impressive. United started in a unfamiliar system. Mourinho picked Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind as a back three with Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard as wing-backs. He insisted before kick-off it was a trial, rather than a hint at next season's preferred formation. With Lukaku on the bench, it meant Rashford could play up front with help from Juan Mata. And it took just two minutes for the teenager to get United's tour up and running. The smoke from the pre-game fireworks had barely cleared by the time Lingard won the ball on the left. It broke to Rashford who side-footed his finish past Jon Kempin in the Galaxy goal. With just two minutes gone, United were 1-0 up. Last time these two teams met was the start of United's 2014 tour, Louis van Gaal's first as manager. Since then, there have been a lot of changes. Van Gaal is gone and so are all but nine of the squad he picked for that first tour of the United States. More than 86,000 packed into Pasadena's Rose Bowl to watch United win 7-0 three years ago. There were still tickets on sale for Saturday's match an hour before kick-off. The StubHub Center in Carson holds 27,000 but it wasn't a sell out. The fans who did come got to see Rashford show Lukaku that he would quite like to play up front next season, too. The game wasn't even 20 minutes old when he got his second, latching onto a through ball from Mata to score in the far corner. Rashford has returned to training looking bigger and stronger. The individual weights programme United have put him on is already paying off. He was too good for a Galaxy side full of reserves and youngsters. Only four of the 11 started their last MLS fixture, a 6-2 thumping by San Jose, and this was their ninth game in the last 30 days. In truth, it was a fixture that LA didn't need. Currently eighth out of 11 in Major League Soccer's Western Conference, they have bigger worries than helping United get ready for the new season. Rashford should have had a hat trick before half-time but Kempin did well to close him down after being sent clean through by a lovely pass from the impressive Michael Carrick. By half-time, United had 13 shots and six on target while Galaxy couldn't test David De Gea once. Lukaku and Lindelof both came on at half-time as Mourinho changed his entire team at the break. Andreas Pereira came on in central midfield to make his first appearance back at the club after a season on loan at Granada. Galaxy hung on a little longer in the second half but after 67 minutes it was 4-0, Paul Pogba striding forward to roll the ball to Mkhitaryan, who passed into the net. Five minutes later it was 5-0. Pogba swept the ball out to Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who crossed for Anthony Martial to score. Former Barcelona and Tottenham man Dos Santos got one back for Galaxy 10 minutes from time after cutting inside Lindelof before Romney headed in a second at the back post, but there was never any danger of a comeback.
|
MAN
