Louis Van Gaal’s third game in charge against Inter Milan ended in a 0-0 draw, with United triumphing 5-3 on penalties. United were unlucky not to win in 90 minutes, but finally got the deserved win after the shoot-out. Van Gaal continued to persist with the 3-5-2 formation, and were much the better team against Vidic’s new club.
We started the game with a strong side against Inter Milan in the first half, with no youngsters featuring in the starting eleven. Anders Lindegaard started the game in goal, with Evans, Jones and Smalling in front. Ander Herrera also made his third appearance of the tour as he looks to gain more game time as he settles into his new surroundings. Darren Fletcher also captained the side for the second time.
The game started as it meant to go on – even and pretty dull. United started much better than they did against Roma, and looked the better side by a comfortable distance, but neither side really threatened or did anything of any significance. Inter Milan were happy to sit back and stay compact like a typical Italian side.
We almost opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a Jones header, only to be denied by a great save from the Milan keeper, Handanovic. The only real positive to take from the half was that there was some good one touch passing from United throughout the 45 minutes, and everyone was looking for the ball and moving into space.
The second half of the match started with the usual mass of changes. Wilfried Zaha picked up his first minutes of the tour, with him looking to impress the new manager. Luke Shaw also made an appearance after a lot of talk that he’d not feature at all due to fitness issues. Eight changes were made, with the only survivors being Evans, Fletcher and Young.
United started the second half the better team again, and that continued for the whole half. It’s fair to say Inter Milan didn’t look interested, and didn’t really seem like scoring at all. Nani almost opened the scoring on 60 minutes after some great football with Kagawa. Cleverley then almost opened the scoring on 70 minutes, volleying just over after some great play down the right. Inter Milan almost got an undeserved late goal from a free kick, but a fantastic save from the flying Spaniard that is David De Gea prevented them. Wilfried Zaha impressed during his first 45 minutes of the tour, and he almost made it 1-0 with a long run.
United couldn’t make their dominance pay and the game ended 0-0, which took the game to penalties. The penalty shootout was much better than our last one against Sunderland, as United scored all 5 penalties that they took. Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Darren Fletcher were amongst the Manchester United scorers.
Another good workout for the reds, as we continue to gain fitness over the pre-season tour ready for the Premier League season. Three wins from three for Louis Van Gaal and United in America, and up next – the mighty Real Madrid.
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