INTERNATIONAL CLUB GAME
MANCHESTER UNITED 2
SAMPDORIA 1
By Daire Walsh
An 81st-minute goal by Juan Mata was the difference between the sides at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday night, when Manchester United edged out Sampdoria in an International Club Game.
A draw seemed to be on the cards after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first-half opener was cancelled out by Dennis Praet’s 63rd-minute finish, only for Mata to reply with a trademark strike in the closing stages.
With a Super Cup final against back-to-back Champions League winners Real Madrid just six days away, this was the last pre-season outing for Jose Mourinho’s side before the start of the 2017/18 season.
New signings Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku had already featured for the Red Devils on their Aon Tour, and just two days after his transfer from Premier League champions Chelsea was officially confirmed, Serbian midfielder Nemanka Matic was included in a strong United starting line-up.
For their first visit to Ireland in all of seven years, Mourinho opted to employ a 3-5-1-1 formation. A back-three of Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind played in front of Spanish netminder David De Gea, while Matic was joined in central midfield by Brazilian youngster Andreas Pereira and Paul Pogba.
Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia were deployed in wing-back roles, with Mkhitaryan operating just behind Lukaku in the central attacking areas. On the Sampdoria side, the diminutive Lucas Torreira acted as a a defensive screen in front of a back-four that was marshalled by skipper Vasco Regini.
The former Paraguayan international Edgar Barreto offered a great deal of experience to the Serie A team’s engine room, and new recruit Gianluca Caprari was hoping to impress up front alongside Fabio Quagliarella – who is now in his second spell with Sampdoria.
With a large support behind them at the Ballsbridge venue, United sought to control the tempo of the game during the early moments. It was an extremely frantic sequence of events that led to their opening goal in the ninth-minute, however, as they very nearly found themselves facing into a one-goal deficit initially.
Following an overhit back-pass by Blind, De Gea was forced to scramble back towards his line to prevent an embarrassing own goal from the Dutch defender. De Gea’s eventually save offered Sampdoria an indirect free-kick inside the United box, but after the subsequent set-piece was charged down, United broke away on a fast-paced counter-attack.
Valencia made up significant ground on the right-flank, and switched the play across the field to Darmian. His delivered a left-footed cross into towards Mkhitaryan – who was on hand to supply a simple finish from close-range.
This was Mkhitaryan’s second goal at the Aviva (he previously found the target for Armenia in a European Championship qualifier in 2011), and he was close to doubling his side’s lead at the end of the first-quarter.
The lively Valencia skipped effortlessly passed a Sampdoria challenge, and Mkhitaryan’s header from his precise ball floated just past Christian Puggioni’s goal.
Although they weren’t quite cutting loose on their Italian counterparts, United continued to enjoy the majority of the possession in the opening period. A curling strike from Lukaku was deflected just wide of the mark, and Mkhitaryan was once again just wide of the target after 36 minutes.
Lindelof’s blushes were spared just before the interval – when his sliced clearance drifted agonisingly past his own post – but when Irish referee Neil Doyle brought the first-half proceeding to a close, United remained in the ascendancy.
As expected, there were a number of alterations to the United side when the action resumed. Ander Herrera, club captain Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini formed a brand-new midfield triumvriate, whereas Mata took over from Mkhitaryan in the number ten position.
Opportunities were initially at a premium after the restart, and when Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were introduced on the hour mark – for Blind and Lukaku respectively – the aim was to inject fresh energy into the United play.
Fellaini (whose rumoured move to Turkish Galatasaray hasn’t yet materialised) added his considerable physicality to the United midfield, and he set-up a chance for Herrera on 62 minutes. The Spaniard coolly fired home, but his effort was ultimately ruled because of offside by the linesman.
Though television replays showed that this was undoubtedly the correct decision, Sampdoria nevertheless breathed a sigh of relief. They were eager to force their way back into contention, however, and they drew level at the end of their next foray into the United half.
A cross from the left-flank was only half-cleared by United, and former Anderlecht star Praet coolly side-footed beyond the reach of De Gea from just outside the 18-yard box. This should have set the game up for an exciting finale, but with neither team truly setting the world alight, it was difficult to predict how it would eventually pan out.
The sheer level of substitutions meant that it difficult for any consistent flow to develop in the play, and by the 76th minute, United had introduced 10 of the 12 substitutes that they had named. Martial proved to be the most effective of the replacements, and a Herrera header from his 79th-minute delivery (following a lung-bursting run) was smothered by Puggioni.
He once again forced his direct opponent on the back-foot moments later, and this time Mata was on cue to direct his pass into the bottom left-hand corner of the Sampdoria net. This looked like being the decisive score of the contest, but after he was sent on with just five minutes of normal time remaining, Sampdoria’s Andrea Tozzo denied Herrera and Rashford with a brace of fine stops.
United ultimately held out to finish their pre-season tour with a win, though, and the Aviva Stadium will now prepare itself for the visit of Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
MANCHESTER UNITED: David De Gea (Joel Pereira 76); Victor Lindelof (Phil Jones 76), Chris Smalling (Eric Bailly 76), Daley Blind (Anthony Martial 60); Antonio Valencia, Andreas Pereira (Ander Herrera 46), Nemanja Matic (Michael Carrick 46), Paul Pogba (Marouane Fellaini 46), Matteo Darmian (Axel Tuanzebe 76); Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Juan Mata 46); Romelu Lukaku (Marcus Rashford 60).
Substitutes not used: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Scott McTominay,
SAMPDORIA: Christian Puggioni (Andrea Tozzo 85); Jacopo Sala (Bartosz Bereszynski 75), Vasco Regini, Matias Silvestre, Daniel Pavlovic (Nicola Murru 66); Lucas Torreira (Leonardo Capezzi 85); Edgar Barreto (Filip Djuricic 75), Dennis Praet (Valerio Verre 75), Karol Linetty (Ricardo Alvarez 66); Gianluca Caprari (Federico Bonazzoli 75), Fabio Quagliarella (Dawid Kownacki 85).
Substitutes not used: Lorenco Simic, Jose Ribeiro Pires, Maxime Leverbe.
Referee: Neil Doyle (Ireland).