Pre-Season: United Defeat Florentina 5-4 On Penalties

Manchester United rounded off our pre-season preparations with a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina at Old Trafford before winning 5-4 on penalties to be crowned winners of the Snapdragon Cup.

A Robin Gosens own goal for the Reds had cancelled out Simon Sohm’s opener for the away side inside the opening 25 minutes, with no further action in the way of goals, forcing a shootout at the end of normal time. Altay Bayindir made the only save of the 10 spot-kicks, from Fiorentina’s fifth attempt, and Kobbie Mainoo then converted to earn a 5-4 win on penalties.

There was a buoyant mood in M16 before the action had even begun, with reasons to be cheerful about the personnel in town from both camps – including those in the line-ups and otherwise.

After our four summer additions – Matheus Cunha, Diego Leon, Bryan Mbeumo and the most recent acquisition confirmed just two hours before kick-off, Benjamin Sesko, – were presented to supporters on the pitch, there was also a special moment for legendary goalkeeper David De Gea on his M16 return, receiving a commemorative award from his friend and former team-mate Bruno Fernandes before the action got under way.

FIRST HALF – A TALE OF TWO SET-PIECES

Of our four signings made so far this summer, Cunha and Mbeumo were those given their first Old Trafford starts for United here, but were already on the pitch for their pre-match unveiling to fans when the remaining nine starters walked out from the players’ tunnel at kick-off. That pairing took up the wide berths of our attacking three in the first half, with Mason Mount occupying the most advanced central role.

Fiorentina made the quicker start to proceedings as ex-Everton forward Moise Kean led a first charge for the visitors, combining with another familiar foe in Edin Dzeko, whose cross from the right-hand side was blocked by Ayden Heaven but the looping ball stood up kindly for Kean making his way back into the box, where he nodded just over the crossbar.

But the visitors made no mistake with their next opportunity, taking the lead on eight minutes. Patrick Chinazeakpere Dorgu had slid in well on Dodo to concede a corner, but the resulting delivery picked out Sohm unmarked in the centre to volley coolly into the bottom right corner, in front of the Stretford End.

United immediately went up the other end in search of an instant reply, Amad playing a give-and-go with Cunha to breach the Fiorentina area, but he lashed a right-footed strike wide of the near post.

Patience was required for the Reds to restore parity but our pressure markedly grew after the 20-minute mark. Mbeumo – appearing to be on set-piece duty, certainly from the right-hand side where he provided some quality inswinging deliveries – picked out Harry Maguire from a free-kick, with our no.5 glancing a header wide of the left-hand post.

A neat exchange between Dorgu, Cunha and Mount followed to win us another corner, whipped to the back post by Fernandes from the left-hand side, where pressure from Leny Yoro and Casemiro forced Germany international Robin Gosens to divert into his own net and give United the leveller. Despite appeals a foul, if anything it looked like Harry Maguire had been impeded.

Another succession of corners on the half-hour mark almost saw United go ahead, with Casemiro closest to Mbueumo’s delivery, before he sent another wicked cross into the box from the second – after initially playing short to Amad – perfectly setting up Yoro to head goalwards, who was thwarted by the familiar sight of an impressive reaction save from De Gea, receiving applause from those behind him in the East Stand for his intervention.

Mbeumo and Amad repeated the short-corner trick 10 minutes later with Heaven this time the man on the end of the delivery, but his header needed only a routine save from De Gea, enough to preserve the stalemate status going into the interval.

SECOND HALF – PENALTIES REQUIRED

There were no alterations at the break in terms of personnel, although Mbeumo and Mount’s roles in the front three did appear more fluid at the start of the second half, rotating between the right and central roles in our attack.

Like in the opening half, Fiorentina forced the first threat, as Kean’s advance down the left saw him stand up a cross from the byline, which was deflected by Dorgu onto his own crossbar, under pressure from goalscorer Sohm, whose goalbound volley moments later was well cut out by Dorgu.

Mount’s pressure then kickstarted a United attack in response, which culminated in Fernandes firing over from the edge of the box. Cunha went much closer from distance just after the hour, flashing a low drive just beyond De Gea’s right-hand post, and Heaven sent an instinctive header just over shortly after following a Maguire flick-on.

A pre-season feeling became evident as Fernandes turned on the style by turning on the ball cleverly in his own box, and a intelligent flick beyond another opponent, while still having the recovery pace to challenge Kean superbly, preventing him from going one-on-one against Bayindir.

At the other end, Maguire accepted the crowd’s urges to shoot from distance, drawing another De Gea stop. A quadruple United change saw Matthijs de Ligt, Luke Shaw, Mainoo and Diogo Dalot introduced for the closing stages.

Matheus Cunha was closest to scoring a United winner before penalties were forced.
The visitors continued in search of a winner of their own at the other end as Gosens fired a volley he felt was destined for goal into his own team-mate, Albert Gudmundsson, and Kean forced a one-on-one stop from Bayindir before the offside flag was raised.

Cunha might have grabbed the decisive goal when he was on the end of a Fernandes cross from the left byline, following nice interplay with Mount, but his goabound strike was deflected over just in front of the goal line, and Yoro had a header from even closer range held by De Gea – before the Spaniard was awarded a standing ovation when he was replaced by Tomasso Martinelli late on.

The stand-in goalkeeper had a penalty shoot out to contest following just a couple of minutes of action in normal time to determine a winner.

After both sides scored all of their first four penalties – Fernandes, Cunha, Dalot and Amad, in cheeky fashion, successfully stepping up for the Reds – Fabiano Parisi’s fifth strike for the visitors was kept out by Bayindir, giving Mainoo the opportunity to win it with the final of our five efforts, and he duly obliged with an emphatic effort into the right-hand corner to ensure we were awarded the Snapdragon Cup at full-time.

MATCH DETAILS

UNITED

Line-up: Bayindir; Yoro, Maguire (De Ligt 73), Heaven (Shaw 73); Amad, Casemiro (Mainoo 73), Fernandes (c), Dorgu; Mbuemo (Dalot 73), Mount (Ugarte 84), Cunha.

Subs not used: Heaton, Mee, Fredricson, Leon, Collyer, Hojlund, Obi.

Goal: Gosens 25 (own goal).

FIORENTINA

Line-up: De Gea (c) (Martinelli 87); Comuzzo (Kouadio 35), Pongracic (Pablo Mari 79), Ranieri (Viti 63); Dodo, Fagioli, Sohm (Ndour 63), Gosens; Gudmundsson (Fazzini 79); Dzeko (Richardson 63), Kean.

Subs not used: Leonardelli, Lezzerini, Bianco, Fortini, Mandragora, Beltran, Kospo, Sabiri, Braschi, Montenegro, Trapani, Parisi.

Goal: Sohm 8.

Booked: Dodo 60.

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