<\/amp-img><\/amp-iframe><\/div>\nUnited have made an uninspiring start to the Premier League, picking up just four points from their opening three games against newly-promoted Hull and Ipswich and a trip to Everton.<\/p>\n
Yet the difference in class between the three-time European champions and a club only formed nine years ago told once Cunha opened the floodgates on 27 minutes.<\/p>\n
Sabah navigated four rounds of qualifying to earn their night at the Theatre of Dreams.<\/p>\n
For coach Valdas Dambrauskas it was a return to Old Trafford after his fairytale rise to the Champions League began with a role at Manchester United Soccer Schools, while working several part-time jobs just to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
Dambrauskas conceded even before the match that Sabah had leapfrogged a few stages in their development by reaching the Champions League proper before they had even experienced the Europa or Conference League.<\/p>\n
United boss Michael Carrick could barely have asked for a more forgiving fixture with the Manchester derby against City to come on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Carrick could afford to leave out Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford, while Youri Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo, Bryan Mbeumo and Sesko were handed a rest in the second half.<\/p>\n
Undaunted by the 74,000 crowd in United\u2019s first Champions League outing for nearly three years, Sabah started confidently.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United is congratulated by teammate Matheus Cunha after scoring his team\u2019s fourth goal during the UEFA Champions League 2026\/27 League Phase MD1 match between Manchester United and Sabah FC at Old Trafford on September 10, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nVilla make winning start in Europe | 00:33<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nHowever, they could not live with the Premier League giants once the Red Devils clicked up through the gears.<\/p>\n
Patrick Dorgu impressed in Shaw\u2019s absence and whipped in the cross from which Cunha steered home the opening goal at the near post.<\/p>\n
Two goals in three minutes just before the break killed off the contest. A neat interchange between Tielemans and Fernandes teed up the United captain to slot in his fourth goal in two home appearances this season.<\/p>\n
Mbeumo then freed Sesko to round Stas Pokatilov and roll into an empty net to mark his first start of the season with a goal.<\/p>\n
United could afford to coast through the second period but added to their lead thanks to a calamitous moment for Pokatilov.<\/p>\n
The danger for Sabah looked to have been averted when Joshua Zirkzee\u2019s backheel from Fernandes\u2019s scooped free-kick was blocked.<\/p>\n
But the ball bobbled around the Kazakh goalkeeper\u2019s feet and he presented Martinez the chance to slam into an empty net.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\nMuch tougher tests of what United are capable of back at Europe\u2019s top table await, starting with their next Champions League outing at Atletico Madrid in five weeks\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
But victory capped a fine week for English clubs with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City also off to winning starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cNice to have a clean sheet and obviously win the game. Some of our attacking play was fantastic. We were dangerous in transition, defended well in the most part,\u201d Carrick told TNT Sports. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe result looks comfortable but it was not as easy as that. Kobbie [Mainoo] is a fantastic player, it is pretty obvious to see. He has a massive influence on our game and a real joy to have. Through the middle of the pitch, we have played some good football at times and we can get better. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some good signs which we have shown tonight. The confidence is there, like at Everton on Sunday for large spells, just took a hit there at the end with the result. It is always nice to win. Another big one on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\nMeanwhile, Jamal Musiala scored the opener and Michael Olise grabbed two goals as Bayern Munich cruised to a comfortable 5-0 home win over Bodo-Glimt in the Champions League on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Harry Kane and Alphonso Davies also got on the scoresheet for the six-time European champions but the evening belonged to Musiala, who was embraced by his teammates after scoring on his return to the starting XI.<\/p>\n
The Germany international missed two matches after revealing he was suffering from a neurological condition which caused him to collapse on the pitch in two of Bayern\u2019s pre-season friendlies.<\/p>\n
The win continued Bayern\u2019s remarkable run of 24 straight victories in Champions League opening games dating back to 2002.<\/p>\n
Last season\u2019s Champions League surprise packages Bodo, who made it to the last 16, held out bravely but struggled in the second half and eventually lost Odin Bjortuft to a straight red card for a last-man foul with three minutes left.<\/p>\n
Musiala was among three changes Bayern coach Vincent Kompany made to his starting XI from Saturday\u2019s scoreless draw at Schalke, alongside the returning Kane and Olise.<\/p>\n
<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nReal Madrid edge Inter in UCL opener | 01:26<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe German champions were frustrated by Bodo\u2019s deep block in the opening half, struggling to carve out a clear-cut chance.<\/p>\n
Bodo\u2019s resistance was broken early in the second when Musiala latched onto a blocked Kane effort and fired a shot into the far corner.<\/p>\n
Kane added another just after the hour mark, heading in an Olise free-kick to extend his Champions League scoring run to eight matches in a row.<\/p>\n
Bayern ran rampant in the dying stages, scoring three goals in the last 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
Davies blasted in an excellent long-range effort with 13 minutes left and Olise soon followed suit six minutes later, guiding a sensational shot into the top left corner from 25 yards out.<\/p>\n
The France winger added another brilliant finish in stoppage time to add gloss to a dominant second-half performance for the Bavarian giants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 win on their return to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons as Azerbaijani champions Sabah were taught a lesson on their debut among Europe\u2019s elite on Thursday. Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez were on target at Old Trafford as the Red […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":261960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-261959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}