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FULL TIME. Jose Mourinho era starts with a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
90’ United go for one last goal but Wigan clear the ball.
88’ Nothing interesting is happening in the game now. Both teams seems to have accepted the result.
86’ The away fans are chanting Jose Mourinho’s name. Earlier he was a hated figure there. How times change.
82’ Mourinho makes his last two substitutions. Sam Johnstone and Eric Bailly is off, Joel Castro Pereira and Axel Tuanzebe is on.
78’ Mata takes a free-kick near the corner flag and it bounces off several players before it is cleared. Anything could have happened there.
78’ Surprisingly Varela is playing in midfield. His last game for United was against Liverpool in the Europa League and he was on the receiving end of a brilliant goal from Philippe Coutinho.
75’ Corner for United, Mata takes and nothing come of it.
74’ Ander Herera and Daley Blind are off, Tyler Blackett and Guillermo Varela are coming on.
73’ Juan Mata is running around and fouling players. Trying to impress Jose Mourinho maybe?
72’ Nick Powell came on for Mata against Wolfsburg in their last group stage game in the UEFA Champions League. Played against Bournemouth after that and was never seen again for United.
69’ Former Manchester United player, Nick Powell, is coming on for Wigan.
68’ Daley Blind is playing as a left-back in the second half. He played as a centre-back in the first half.
66’ Adnan Januzaj is trying his best to get involved with all the attacks United are starting. He is also playing for his Man Utd career.
63’ Juan Mata has been involved in both goals scored by United but it remains to be seen if he will be at the club when the season starts.
Here is Andreas Pereira’s goal
59’ A well-worked free-kick is played to Ander Herrera, his shot is blocked & Andreas Pereira finds the back of the net with a venomous shot. Brilliant goal.
58’ GOAL FOR UNITED!
57’ Young finds Keane with a cross but his effort goes wide.
55’ United are piling on the pressure. They win another corner.
54’ Almost a second goal as Januzaj just fails to get on the end of a drilled ball into the box
53’ Corner for United as Ashley Young’s cross is blocked but they can’t capitalise on it.
50’ Fosu-Mensah, Shaw, Carrick, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Memphis & Wilson are the players who were taken off at half-time
49’ Awful mistake from the Wigan keeper. His pass is easily intercepted by Mata and he passes it to Will Keane who puts it in the back of an open net.
49’ GOAL!
46’ Second half starts.
Mata, Jones, Valencia, Januzaj, Young, Pereira and Keane are on for United. Valencia will wear the armband against his former club.
The second half is about to start. Wholesale changes from Jose Mourinho.
Bailly is already showing off his skills.
HALF TIME. Uneventful half, Mkhitaryan was lively for United and he created the best chance of the game which was put wide by Memphis.
45’ Fosu Mensah makes a run down the right wing and tries to put a cross into the box, but it goes into the top tier of the stand.
44’ The first half is almost over and both teams are yet to find the back of the net.
41’ Jussi Jääskeläinen is WIgan’s keeper in the first half. He is a Bolton Wanderers legend.
39’ Good defending from Blind as Wigan were trying to capitalise after intercepting a loose pass.
38’ Last time Will Grigg played Manchester United, he scored two goals against them in that 4-0 humiliation at the hands of MK Dons back in 2014.
35’ Fosu Mensah is down injured for Man Utd.
34’ Corner for Wigan but it is cleared. The ball falls to a Wigan player and they mount the pressure to find a goal.
32’ Memphis has a go from distance but it goes just wide of the post.
28’ Some positivity for Wigan. They send a flying cross into the United box but no player could reach it. They now have a throw in near the United penalty box.
27’ United are slowly getting into their groove. If they keep this up then they are sure to score soon. As for Wigan, they’ve struggled to even reach the United penalty box.
25’ MISS! Mkhitaryan finds Memphis in the box with a brilliant cross but Memphis misses from close range. He isn’t impressing Jose with that.
24’ Lingard is pushed off the ball but the referee doesn’t blow for a foul. Shocking that.
22’ Nick Powell is on the bench for Wigan. He moved to Latics this week.
21’ The effort from Lingard was the best of the game so far and it is no surprise that Mkhitaryan was involved in the build-up.
20’ Wigan finally have the ball but they give it away carelessly. James Wilson is caught offside from the resulting attack.
18’ Lingard takes a shot but it is deflected out for a corner. Brilliant passage of play from Man Utd.
15’ United are doing well to keep the ball but they are yet to carve out a good chance. Mkhitaryan and Lingard have been involved heavily for the visitors so far.
12’ Mkhitaryan does well to beat two players and he plays it through to Memphis down the left wing. The Dutch international’s cross hits a Wigan player and the ball goes out for a corner.
11’ Sam Johnstone is United’s keeper tonight as De Gea and Romero are not back from their holidays following their international commitments.
10’ Manchester United are keeping the ball well but are not able to break the Wigan defence.
9’ Jesse Lingard has been involved heavily in the game so far. This is his time to cement his place in Mourinho’s plans.
8’ Mkhitaryan was the Bundesliga player of the season last time around. The United fans are already chanting his name.
5’ Wigan won the FA Cup in 2013 but were relegated at the end of the same season. They were later relegated from the English Championship but will return to the English second division this season after a powerful display in League One last season. Their main man then was Will Grigg of course.
4’ Manchester United have dominated possession from the off, with loads of square passes in defence that are unnervingly close to Louis van Gaal’s era. The move ends with Lingard playing a forward pass out of play.
2’ Chants of ‘Jose Mourinho’ ring out from the travelling United faithful. Somewhere in London, hordes of Chelsea fans twitch uncontrollably and wipe away a silent tear.
1’ PEEP PEEP PEEP. Wigan get us underway. The Jose Mourinho era in charge of Manchester United has BEGUN!
The last time these two sides faced each other? The 2013 Community Shield final that kicked off David Moyes’ United career with a trophy. How times have changed! The teams, meanwhile have gathered in the tunnel.
The atmosphere in the DW stadium reaches fever-pitch as we are moments away from kickoff. Hard to believe this is a pre-season friendly – with 7000 Manchester United fans travelling in support.
We are just 7 minutes away from kick-off.
Antonio Valencia is on the bench for today’s game. He is a former Wigan Athletic player.
It will be interesting to see if Will Grigg can terrify the Manchester United defence.
Here is the Will Grigg chant to pump you up before the game.
Meanwhile, WILL GRIGG STARTS FOR WIGAN ATHLETIC!
Starting Line-upsManchester United XI: Johnstone, Fosu-Mensah, Bailly, Blind, Shaw, Carrick, Herrera, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Memphis, Wilson.
Preview:
Jose Mourinho will lead his Manchester United side out on the field for the very first time after being appointed as the club’s manager in June. The Portuguese manager’s return to England after being sacked by Chelsea midway through the 2015/16 season will be watched by millions as he is in charge of a club he has often dreamed of managing. Many of Manchester United’s first team players will be on holiday following their exploits with the national team in Euro 2016 and Copa America Centenario.
United’s new signings, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly are featuring for the Red Devils tonight and the fans will be eager to see how these players fare. In addition, Luke Shaw is making his comeback following his horrific injury against PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. The young Engishman is in the starting line up for the game.
