Dortmund drubs Mourinho’s United
Print Edition
JOSE Mourinho’s Manchester United was thrashed 1-4 by Borussia Dortmund in the first match of the 2016 International Champions Cup China in Shanghai last night.
Former Dortmund player Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the sole goal for the English Premier League giant.
“The teams have different engines. This is Formula 1 against Formula 3. They (Dortmund) are much sharper,” Mourinho, who took over from the sacked Louis van Gaal earlier this year, conceded.
“Such a result is expected in a preseason match. One team only played one match in the past 10 days, and another team played four in the past month — 3-2 might have been a more fair score, but the 4-1 result showed their good quality,” the Portuguese added.
Mourinho said it was not fair to judge his players’ performance from yesterday’s clash while the absence of players like England duo Wayne Rooney and Chris Smalling was also a big factor.
Mourinho gave the captain’s armband to Antonio Valencia while Juan Mata, Jess Lingard and Luke Shaw were also in the starting line-up. Former United player Shinji Kagawa and Marcel Schmelzer were in Dortmund’s starting squad.
The match kicked off in scorching evening conditions. Dortmund seized its first real chance in the 19th minute during a free-kick flurry. United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, playing in place of the regular David De Gea, made two saves but could not stop the third attempt from Gonzalo Castro.
The German’s second goal came in the 34th when they won a penalty for a Valencia handball in the box. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang deceived Johnstone and sent the ball into the center of the goal. Aubameyang almost added another in the 41st but his shot was blocked by a fully stretched Johnstone.
Coming into the second half, Mourinho made four substitutions, sending on young striker Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young. But it was the Bundesliga powerhouse that found the net again. Ousmane Dembele’s close-range shot in the 56th fell into the top right corner of the goal, leaving United’s substitute goalie Sergio Romero stranded.
The Red Devils finally managed a goal during a counter-attack in the 58th, when Mkhitaryan received a pass from Mata and sent the ball into an open goal.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel then made seven substitutions, including sending on Turkey international Nuri Sahin. In the 85th, Castro completed his brace, and sealed the final score at 4-1.
“I am happy with the result. But this is still preseason preparation,” said Tuchel, who also praised former ward Mkhitaryan for his performance.
More than 38,200 fans showed up at Shanghai Stadium for the match. The next two ICC China matches will be held in Beijing and Shenzhen.
In Beijing on Monday, United will take on Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s team will then travel to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, to complete the three-match ICC series against Dortmund on Thursday.
Dortmund, meanwhile, said it has signed attacking midfielder Andre Schuerrle from Bundesliga rival VfL Wolfsburg.
By signing Schuerrle to a five-year contract, Dortmund has added a second member of Germany’s World Cup winning squad in two days, following Thursday’s acquisition of Mario Goetze from Bayern Munich.
Schuerrle, who played for Chelsea before moving to Wolfsburg in February 2015, provided the cross for Goetze’s winning goal against Argentina in extra time of the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil. Both were substitutes.
Schuerrle will be reunited with coach Tuchel, who was in charge when the 25-year-old Schuerrle played for Mainz.
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