admin Man United lost their final pre-season tour game to Borussia Dortmund at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Manchester United’s Sin City. Omari Forson was dropped, Brandon Williams was involved in a heated argument with Tom Heaton, Andre Onana brought down Harry Maguire and three goals were sent off.
18-year-old winger Forson was sent off by Erik ten Haga after 37 minutes for kicking Borussia Dortmund left-back Julian Ryerson and colliding with Karim Adeyemi.
Ryerson informed the linesman and dragged Ten Hag onto the field while they exchanged words. Forson was penalized and Antony was immediately ordered to warm up.
Eight minutes later, Forson was replaced by Antony. Ten Hag had a 33-second conversation with a Londoner and ended it with a slap on the head. At least United were ahead. At the end of the time they were behind.
Donyell Malen bowled twice in the space of minutes, sparking a stubborn investigation between the cantankerous Williams and Heaton.
Williams, a Harpurhey boxing enthusiast, appeared to yell at Heaton, “That’s your business.” Fully embracing his new concept of the sweeping bouncer, Heaton went out of his zone and returned fire.
The player at fault was actually Victor Lindelof for a failed pass attempt. Heaton had a satisfactory time until Malen scored in the 43rd and 44th minutes.
The second fell 18 seconds before kick-off. Aaron Wan-Bissaka made a similar mistake to Lindelof as Dortmund took the lead again.
Heaton did not feature in the second half as Onana came on in his second United appearance. The Cameroonian, listed as “Andrew Onana” in his squad profile, completed his first pass effortlessly and a moment later skillfully countered with Sebastian Haller. Onana immediately went to Harry Maguire and threw him to the ground.
United’s tour ended in the third of four defeats. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t make sense; United won three friendlies and draws in Thailand and Australia last year and suffered a generational drop a week into the season’s start at Brentford.
Despite this, Ten Hag told United they ‘don’t play friendlies’ and called up many of his first teams at 1pm. United were quite direct when Jadon Sancho, who was a key touch point as he continued his experimentation as a centre-forward, made way for new signing Joe Hugill in the 77th minute.
Hugill wasted the last few one-on-one calls. As players and staff from both groups exchanged pleasantries in the center circle, Ten Hag returned to the dressing room and hastily left the pitch. United’s first Premier League game is just two weeks away.
In the stands, it was United’s most fruitless game of the tour. Allegiant Stadium will host next year’s Super Bowl and is better suited for this form of football.
United once again attracted a reliable attendance of 50,857 to conclude their US tour. Now that the team rebuild is complete, team depth needs to be addressed. Ten Hag decided to field a second eleven of up to six players who could no longer be United players in five weeks time.
Heaton is seeking further clarification over his future, Maguire will be sold if an acceptable offer arrives, Williams is for sale, Scott McTominay’s situation is changeable, Donny van de Beek has admitted he could leave and Facundo Pellistri revealed United are working on the most suitable club to loan him to.
Diogo Dalot, the only starter to have renewed his contract on Ten Hag’s watch, reignited the right-back debate with an unsaveable strike for the opening goal in the 24th minute. For all of Wan-Bissaka’s improvement, he does not have that in his locker and Dalot does.
Wan-Bissaka retains the momentum but his own attempt at goal was a field goal before his pass turned attack into defence, resulting in Youssoufa Moukoko’s tap-in. This has been a regressive tour after a progressive seven months for Wan-Bissaka.
Both of United’s right-backs are bound to get starts in next weekend’s back-to-back friendlies against Lens and Athletic Bilbao in Manchester and Dublin. Then Ten Hag has a week to mull over who starts against Wolves at Old Trafford.
Heaton, in his 38th year, is an old dog eager to learn new tricks. He positioned himself in the centre circle every time United had a corner amid Ten Hag’s edict for United’s custodian to not be rooted to their line.
As long as Maguire tours with United, he seems certain to be derided by a section of the crowd. After Melbourne and Houston, he was booed by a minority in Vegas. It swiftly subsided but restarted when Maguire punted a pass intended for Pellistri into the stands. He looked uncharacteristically cowed when Onana raced towards him.
For 43 minutes, United were dominant and incisive, their squad members emboldened by their starting status. Facundo Pellistri was ebullient, Donny van de Beek was involved and Williams on the run in attack.
He also showed he can run off the mouth.
