David
de Gea and Ángel Di María featured in the tale of two Manchester Unitedplayers
whose unclear futures were highlighted by this 3-1 win against Barcelona. De
Gea, who is a target for Real Madrid, donned the red livery for the first time
since being injured during a draw with Arsenal in last season’s penultimate
game. Di María was due to join Louis van Gaal’s squad after this match, yet
afterwards senior executives refused to dismiss reports he is on the brink of
moving to Paris Saint-Germain. It later emerged the forward had not boarded the
plane to San Jose as expected.
The
prevailing focus of the United manager has to be the side, of course. When this
encounter kicked off the clock started ticking on the final 180 minutes of
match action before the Premier League begins on 8 August. After this outing
only Wednesday’s closing tour match against PSG remains until Tottenham Hotspur
visit Old Trafford. This moved Van Gaal to state the strongest XI he could
select was to contest the opening hour against Barça and PSG, after previously
selecting two different outfield teams. So out strode De Gea, Matteo Darmian,
Luke Shaw, Phil Jones, Daley Blind, Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick,
Memphis Depay, Juan Mata, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney, the captain.
Bastian
Schweinsteiger’s minor injury prevented Van Gaal from playing him. Yet within
eight minutes the Dutchman could smile as United took the lead. This was simple
stuff. Young floated over a corner, Adriano failed to clear and Rooney headed
home beyond Marc André ter Stegen. It would have been merely the equaliser if
Luis Suárez’s earlier free-kick had been precisely guided. Instead, the No9
bent his effort beyond United’s wall but hit De Gea’s left post.
The
Spaniard appeared sharp considering his shortage of football. When Rafinha put
Sergi Roberto in De Gea made a fine save from the ensuing shot. This came after
the 24-year-old had taken a high ball and was followed by similar impressive
work in front of his posts.
Andrés
Iniesta does not lack quality, either. An illustration came with a
drag-back-and-heeled pass that had the 68,416 inside Levi’s Stadium roaring as
Jordi Alba raced on to the ball. United were opened up and fortunate the
left-back’s cross did no material harm.
United
were proving as good in the slick-and-quick department. If this is to be the XI
Van Gaal sends out to face Tottenham he could be confident. Young produced a
slide-rule delivery that put Rooney clear. The No10 swerved away from Ter
Stegen but the angle defeated him. Next up it was Mata who was jammed in
traffic and seemed certain to lose the ball. Yet after dazzling footwork and a
jink of the hips trouble was left behind and a searing cross-field ball to
Young put him in a menacing position. Luke Shaw made an overlap the winger
ignored before he fired a shot at Ter Stegen that came close to doubling the
lead.
Despite
missing Neymar and Lionel Messi due to a post-Copa América break, there was
still enough quality in this Barça side to cause problems. Iniesta was the
chief tormentor and his ability to ping passes to colleagues as if placing the
ball by hand at their feet came close to fashioning a response on several
occasions.
Yet
when Baldomero Toledo blew for the break United deserved the lead. If the 4-3-3
Van Gaal says he wishes to operate is still yet to appear – here was a 4-2-3-1
again – the manager did leave the same men on for the second half’s start, as
he had said.
Early
on, Depay was put in by Rooney but could not score. The 21-year-old shows
flashes of skill and flair that promise much and the sense is consistency can
soon come. The high mark Depay could aim for is Suárez, who is always a threat.
One of his less heralded qualities is the strength when wriggling. Around the
hour mark Blind appeared to have seen off Suárez with a timely intervention as
he neared De Gea’s goal. But Suárez bounced up from the floor to take a pass
from Pedro, who remains a desired acquisition for Van Gaal, to find goal but
the strike was ruled offside.
After
62 minutes came the change from Van Gaal. The entire side was replaced which
meant Marouane Fellaini had his first action of the trip, the Belgian
benefiting from Schweinsteiger’s injury.
Almost
instantly United doubled their lead. Tyler Blackett rolled the ball into space
in Barça’s area and Jesse Lingard, who always shines on tour, finished. Rafinha
then pulled one back before Adnan Januzaj slotted home in response, almost
instantly.
As
the match ended the happy truth for Van Gaal was United deserved this third win
from their three Stateside outings. And the side is improving. The manager
could not wish for much more.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De
Gea (Johnstone, 62); Darmian (Valenica, 62), Jones (McNair, 62), Blind
(Smalling, 62), Shaw (Blackett, 62); Schneiderlin (Herrera, 62), Carrick
(Fellaini, 62); Mata (Lingard, 62) Depay (Perreira, 62), Young (Januzaj, 62);
Rooney (Wilson)
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter
Stegen; Adriano, Pique, Vermaelen (Mathieu, 60), Alba; Iniesta, Busquets,
Roberto; Rafinha, Suárez (El Haddadi, 67), Rodriguez
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