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Manchester United continued their winning form in their pre-season tour of Australia as they beat Leeds United 4-0 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. For the Red Devils, the goals were scored by Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Phil Jones, and Anthony Martial.
Like in the match against Perth Glory, Solskjaer played two entirely different XI's for the two halves. In the first half, the team comprised of Sergio Romero, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Marcos Rojo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata and Daniel James. The Red Devils got two in the first half, young Greenwood scored with a brilliant finish, while Rashford scored a scintillating solo goal.
In the second half, the team comprised of Joel Periera, Diogo Dalot, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young, Andreas Pereira, Nemanja Matic, Angel Gomes, Jesse Lingard, Tahith Chong, and Anthony Martial. Matic was replaced later on in the second half by James Garner. The Red Devils got another two from the second half, Jones headed it in from the corner, while Martial slotted the penalty home.
In this slideshow, we are going to take a look at the 5 players from the above mentioned 22 who impressed the most:
#5 Angel Gomes
The Manchester United youngster started the second half in his favored number 10 position and he displayed his abilities on the ball. His playing style is much similar to that of Juan Mata but he has more pace than the Spaniard. Some of his touches were absolutely brilliant and with some work upon his overall gameplay, United might have a deadly creator on their hands.
It was his link-up play with Tahith Chong that earned United the penalty. Manchester United are currently missing a creator as all the burden seems to be on Pogba but this performance from Gomes might have come as a welcome sight Solskjaer.
#4 Aaron Wan-Bissaka
It was another impressive display from the 21-year-old at right-back for Manchester United. Wan-Bissaka has fit in perfectly into the system of Solskjaer and while his defensive abilities were on show against Perth Glory, his attacking ones were on display against Leeds today as he got himself an assist.
Also, his link-up play with Paul Pogba was brilliant to see and they coordinated very well in the middle. Today again, there was not a single Leeds attacker who could beat Wan-Bissaka one on one and from the initial looks of him, United and Solskjaer seem to have signed a gem of a talent.
#3 Paul Pogba
In the two games that Pogba has played so far, he has shown exactly why Solskjaer wants to keep hold of him this season and build his team around the Frenchman. The 26-year-old has been the heartbeat of United's midfield and the creator in chief, setting off counter-attacks and providing key passes.
It was his inch-perfect pass which found Wan-Bissaka on the overlap and who in turn provided the cross for Greenwood to finish. His partnership with McTominay has looked good so far and right now, it looks like Pogba would be staying at Manchester United after all.
#2 Mason Greenwood
Greenwood continued to impress the United faithful and Solskjaer against Leeds today. Against Perth Glory he was extremely unlucky to not score and today he finally got on the score sheet with a brilliant toe-poked finish.
In that goal, Greenwood highlighted his willingness to get into the goalscoring positions and his finishing abilities, while also showing his calmness in from of goal. United have been lacking a proper right-winger for quite some time now and maybe the 17-year-old could be the solution Solskjaer is looking for and this is what the Norwegian had to say about him at the end of the game.
#1 Marcus Rashford
Rashford has now scored in both the pre-season games for United and both his goals have highlighted the different abilities the young Englishman has. It was quite an instinctive finish against Perth Glory but today against Leeds, it was his scintillating footwork on display.
He picked the ball up on the counter, beat two Leeds defenders with a brilliant piece of skill and slotted it in calmly. Rashford so far has looked in tremendous shape and his physicality has only grown. His partnership with Pogba has also looked deadly so far.
