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Manchester United were defeated 2-0 by Real Madrid during their highly-anticipated preseason friendly in Houston, Texas.
Man United’s game got off to a rocky start as Kobbie Mainoo was escorted to the sidelines after colliding with Rodrygo after two minutes of play.
Down to ten men temporarily, United struggled to contain the Real Madrid attack, with Aurelien Tchouameni taking a far range shot following a Madrid free kick, only to skim past the side of the goal.
Moments later, los Blancos struck again, with new signing Jude Bellingham lobbing his shot over Andre Onana to hand the La Liga giants a sixth-minute lead.
Unfortunately, it went from bad to worse for United, with Mainoo worryingly being subbed off for Christian Eriksen at the restart.
The Reds shifted up a gear soon after, launching a rapid counter attacking movement that ended with Garnacho launching the ball over the crossbar after finding himself on the end of a long-range cross.
United continued to show signs of threat to the Madrid goal, overloading the Spanish club’s penalty box as Mason Mount took a close range shot that goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was able to scoop up.
25 minutes in, Andre Onana exhibited his goalkeeping talents by saving a thunderous close-range shot from Vinicius Jr coming in from the left flank.
United continued to show slight signs of promise in their pressing game, with Mount surging back to make a strong tackle on Camavinga to break up a threatening counter-attacking move.
The Red Devils’ closest scoring opportunity came in the 35th minute, with a quick linkup play between Bruno Fernandes and Eriksen sending the ball Rashford’s way, whose shot from close range was saved.
Moments later, United found their way into the Madrid box yet again, and this time it was Garnacho who’s grounded shot was swept up by the keeper.
As the second half got underway, it was United who showed hunger on the ball, with Fernandes’ potentially game changing pass to Rashford in the box getting cut out and Lisandro Martinez seeing his shot saved following a corner.
A slew of nine substitutions seemed to revitalize the Red Devils, with new addition to the game Donny van de Beek coming close to scoring when his shot was saved around the 65th minute mark.
United continued to gain more tempo as the match wore on, controlling more of the ball and sitting deeper in Madrid’s final third, with Scott McTominay making a solo run before Lunin came to the rescue for Madrid yet again.
In the 87th minute, Fernandes released a threatening long-range shot, with Los Blancos’ shot stopper denying United yet again.
Two minutes later, Madrid crushed the Reds’ hopes of launching a comeback as Joselu scored a sensational overhead kick to double the la Liga giants’ lead and secure the win for Carlo Ancelotti’s team.
1st half team: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes, Mount, Garnacho, Rashford
Subs: Eriksen, Lindelof, Maguire, Dalot, Williams, Van de Beek, McTominay, Antony, Sancho, Pellistri
