Until the Champions League anthem echoed around Old Trafford for the first time in nearly three years shortly before kick-off, it was easy to forget that playing Sabah on a Thursday night marked Manchester United’s return to Europe’s top table.With respect to the visitors from Azerbaijan, it was a fixture and a night of the week more familiar with the Conference League. United duly made light work of the minnows from Masazir – population 19,000 – to get their campaign off to the winning start that everyone expected and maintain a 100 per cent record among Premier League clubs in this week’s first round.It’s difficult to judge United’s performance against opposition like this, but Youri Tielemans – whose £35million transfer fee from Aston Villa this summer could have bought the Sabah squad twice over – excelled to put the result beyond doubt before half-time.Safe to say, a decidedly tougher test awaits United in their second game away to Atletico Madrid in the Metropolitano next month, but a routine win and the opportunity to make early changes was just what Michael Carrick needed before Sunday’s derby here against Manchester City.United could hardly have chosen a more peculiar occasion for their 300th appearance in this competition. They were 1/10 on with the bookies to beat a club that didn’t even exist until a decade ago and had already fought through four qualifying rounds as underdogs to reach the league phase.The story of their manager Valdas Dambrauskas, retold many times before he arrived back in Manchester, rather summed up the remarkable nature of this tie. The man who won £2,500 on Lithuania’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and used it to fund a coaching education which included a spell with United’s Soccer Schools. Youri Tielemans (left) excelled on Manchester United’s return to the Champions League Benjamin Sesko celebrates after scoring on his first start of the season’This is beyond my imagination,’ Dambrauskas admitted in the build-up. ‘To go through that tunnel onto that pitch. I’ve been many times to Old Trafford with the kids, and now I’m going to come as a coach.’ MATCH STATS AND PLAYER RATINGS MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): Lammens 6.5; Mazraoui 7, Yoro 6.5, Martinez 7, Dorgu 7 (Amass 72, 6); Mainoo 6.5 (Santos 64, 6), Tielemans 8 (Mount 46, 6); Mbeumo 6.5 (Lacey 72, 6.5), B Fernandes 7, Cunha 7.5; Sesko 6.5 (Zirkzee 64, 7)Subs not used: Darlow, Mee, Dalot, Heaven, Maguire, T Fletcher, Rashford.Scorers: Cunha 27, Fernandes 42, Sesko 45, Martinez 68Booked: DorguHead coach: Michael Carrick 7SABAH FK (4-2-3-1): Pokatilov 5; Zedadka 5 (Almeida 76, 6), Dashdamiro 6, McCarthy 6.5, Puchacz 5; Rakhmonaliev 5.5 (Khaibulaev 71, 6), Lepinjica 5; Parris 7 (Isaev 63, 5.5), Simic 6 (Du Queiroz 75, 5.5), Nwachukwu 4.5 (Mbina 46, 6); Mickels 7Subs not used: Ramazanov, Mirzammadov, Rustamli, Mutallimov, R Fernandes, MukhtarovBooked: LepinjicaHead coach: Valdas Dambrauskas 5Referee: Willy Delajod (France) 7Att: 73,685 <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/football/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
The timing of the game, three days before the Old Trafford derby, was not ideal for Carrick given that City had played on Tuesday. But at least the quality of opponent gave him an opportunity to make four changes with Sunday in mind.Luke Shaw, on whom so much hinges at left-back, was rested after suffering cramp in last weekend’s draw at Everton. Patrick Dorgu replaced him and posed a persistent threat going forward, even though his defensive capabilities were rarely tested.Marcus Rashford was on the bench after overstretching a hamstring at Everton, which meant that Matheus Cunha reverted to the left flank after struggling as a false nine in the opening three games, and Benjamin Sesko made his first start of the season. Both Cunha and Sesko scored here.’We wanted to change a little bit and freshen things up, but try to get the balance right,’ said Carrick before kick-off. ‘We didn’t want to change too many. It’s not easy, as you know, playing in a team with too many changes as well.’The Sabah players were out on the pitch more than an hour before the start, their excitement clear for all to see as they filmed themselves and took pictures.Once the action started, they seemed undaunted by the occasion and the pace of Kaheem Parris and dangerman Joy Lance Mickels kept United’s defence on its toes.Not surprisingly, though, it was Carrick’s side who made the better chances including two early opportunities on the right side of the box for Cunha and Noussair Mazraoui. Matheus Cunha was on the end of Patrick Dorgu’s cross to give United a 27th minute lead Lisandro Martinez pounced to score from close range and complete the scoring at Old TraffordWhen Tielemans executed the first of several defence-splitting passes in the 23rd minute, lifting the ball first-time into the path of Bruno Fernandes, the United skipper’s square ball to Sesko in front of goal allowed Rahman Dashdamirov to intercept.Another Tielemans pass gave Bryan Mbeumo the chance to cut in from the right and fire straight at goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov before United made the breakthrough in the 27th minute. Sabah were over-committed when an attack broke down close to half-way and Carrick’s side punished them. Mbeumo seized on the loose ball and it went through Sesko, Fernandes and then Dorgu whose first-time cross picked out Cunha and his finish found its way past Pokatilov. The man who couldn’t score through the middle hadn’t taken long to profit in his preferred position on the left side of United’s attack.While the lead was only one, Sabah were always in with a chance. They got closer to Senne Lammens’ goal on occasions than Carrick would have liked, not least when Mickels headed their best chance into the side netting from Parris’ cross to the far post.But United effectively killed the game off with two goals in the space of three minutes before half-time.The first of them was created by Tielemans who started the move and then continued his run into the box to receive Cunha’s pass, spinning cleverly to set up Fernandes for a clinical first-time finish.Then the United captain broke from halfway and fed Mbeumo who slid a pass into the path of Sesko and the Slovenian rounded Pokatilov to score his second goal in four days.With the game all but won, you couldn’t blame Carrick for taking off Tielemans at half-time to protect the Belgian ahead of the City game on Sunday. Kobbie Mainoo and Sesko soon followed and the changes continued after United made it 4-0 in the 68th minute.Pokatilov fumbled a close-range effort from substitute Joshua Zirkzee, and Lisandro Martinez pounced to score from close range before Orphe Mbina headed against the bar for Sabah in added time. So having embarrassingly gone out of the group stage in 2023, United’s first venture into the league phase has gone smoothly.Now it’s onto the Metropolitano, which will host the Champions League final in June. It’s far too early to say if United have even the slightest chance of being there, and games like this won’t give us a clue either way.