Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 win against Sabah, dominating their Champions League opener.
Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko, and Lisandro Martinez all got in on the goalfest as United battered the underdogs.
The Red Devils controlled the contest, creating numerous great opportunities with several players getting a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the Manchester derby at the weekend.
Michael Carrick brought on youngsters Harry Amass and Shea Lacey late to rotate the side and rest some stars who will likely feature against their neighbours City.
Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 win against Sabah
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The game got off to a relatively even start and saw Matheus Cunha have a half-decent effort on goal, which was easily saved by Stas Pokatilov.
Sabah held their own for the first 20 minutes, having spells of possession and moving the ball around well on the Old Trafford turf.
Despite their positive spell, United took the lead through Brazilian Cunha.
A breakdown in play from the away side saw the ball fall to Patrick Dorgu, who played a brilliant ball to the near post where Cunha tapped home to put United one up.
Bruno Fernandes fired home after great work by Youri Tielemans
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The home side continued their pressure, and one soon became two through Fernandes.
A fantastic swivel pass from Youri Tielemans to the Portuguese saw the United captain slot past Pokatilov to put United in cruise control.
Three minutes later, Sesko got in on the act as he rounded the onrushing Sabah goalkeeper to make it 3-0 just before half-time.
Cunha nearly got his second on the hour mark, fizzing a well-struck effort at Pokatilov, who got down and saved superbly.
Benjamin Sesko got the third goal of the game just before half time
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Martinez got a rare goal after a mess-up at the back by Sabah.
Joshua Zirkzee’s audacious backheel was saved and deflected multiple times by the Azerbaijani side’s defence, eventually falling to the Argentinian, who scored from virtually a yard out.
The big lead let Carrick rotate players, with the Manchester derby firmly on his mind for Sunday.
Sabah nearly had something to celebrate as Joy-Lance Mickels got in behind but fired his left-footed strike wide.
United go fourth in the Champions League table
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The best chance for Sabah came to the head of substitute Orphe Mbina, who glanced his close-range effort over the bar.
The game eventually fizzled out as United won comfortably 4-0 and rise up to fourth in the Champions League table.
Carrick was full of praise for his side after the game, telling TNT Sports: “It’s nice to have a clean sheet. Some of our attacking play was fantastic. Dangerous on transition. Defended, for the most part, really well.
“I have to give them a lot credit. Tough team to play against. They play little connections and make you work really hard to get the ball back.
“The result looks comfortable. It wasn’t always like that, but I thought we did a lot of good things tonight, which gave us a good result.”
