Manchester United made a triumphant return to the UEFA Champions League after a three-season absence, securing a comfortable 4-0 victory over Azerbaijani champions Sabah at Old Trafford. The match served as a stark introduction to Europe’s elite competition for the visitors, a club established only nine years ago.
Despite the significant gap in pedigree, Sabah began the match with confidence in front of a 74,000-strong crowd. However, the visitors struggled to maintain their composure once United found their rhythm. The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute when Matheus Cunha steered a cross from Patrick Dorgu into the near post, opening the floodgates for the hosts.
The contest was effectively decided by two goals in a three-minute span just before halftime. First, a slick exchange between Youri Tielemans and Bruno Fernandes allowed the United captain to slot home his fourth goal of the season. Shortly after, Bryan Mbeumo set up Benjamin Sesko, who rounded goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov to score in his first start of the campaign.
United added a fourth goal in the second half following a defensive error by Pokatilov. After a scooped free-kick from Fernandes led to a blocked backheel from Joshua Zirkzee, the ball fell loose at the goalkeeper’s feet, allowing Lisandro Martinez to fire into an empty net.
United manager Michael Carrick expressed satisfaction with the performance, noting, “It’s nice to have a clean sheet and obviously win the game. I thought some of our attacking play was fantastic, some of the football we played was really good.”
For Sabah coach Valdas Dambrauskas, the night was a return to his roots, having previously worked at Manchester United Soccer Schools. Reflecting on the defeat, Dambrauskas admitted his side lacked the necessary courage to push forward from the back line. “We will all go home tonight thinking we could have done a little bit better,” he said. “I didn’t feel that we are scared and we are afraid but also we didn’t have enough courage.”
The match saw Carrick rotate his squad ahead of the upcoming Manchester derby. Players including Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, and Marcus Rashford were omitted, while others like Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo, Mbeumo, and Sesko were substituted during the second half.
United’s victory follows a mixed start to their domestic season, where they have earned four points from three Premier League matches against Hull, Ipswich, and Everton. The club now looks toward a more challenging test in Europe, with their next Champions League fixture scheduled against Atletico Madrid in five weeks.
This result adds to a successful week for English clubs in European competition, with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, and Manchester City also securing victories in their respective opening matches. The report also notes that 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. The report also notes that sabah navigated four rounds of qualifying to earn their night at the Theatre of Dreams. The report also notes that 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. The report also notes that however, they could not live with the Premier League giants once the Red Devils clicked up through the gears.