LONDON — Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 win on their return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in three seasons as Azerbaijani champions Sabah were taught a lesson on their debut among Europe’s elite.
Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez were on target at Old Trafford as the Red Devils took advantage of a kind draw to get their Champions League campaign up and running.
United 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.
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.
“It’s nice to have a clean sheet and obviously win the game,” said United boss Michael Carrick.
“I thought some of our attacking play was fantastic, some of the football we played was really good.”
Sabah navigated four rounds of qualifying to earn their night at the Theatre of Dreams.
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.
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.
“We will all go home tonight thinking we could have done a little bit better,” said Dambrauskas according to AFP.
“I didn’t feel that we are scared and we are afraid but also we didn’t have enough courage, especially from the back line to move up.”
Carrick could barely have asked for a more forgiving fixture with the Manchester derby against City to come on Sunday.
Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford were left out completely, while Youri Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo, Bryan Mbeumo and Sesko were handed a rest in the second half.
Undaunted by the 74,000 crowd in United’s first Champions League outing for nearly three years, Sabah started confidently.
However, they could not live with the Premier League giants once the Red Devils clicked up through the gears.
Patrick Dorgu impressed in Shaw’s absence and whipped in the cross from which Cunha steered home the opening goal at the near post.
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.
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.
United could afford to coast through the second period but added to their lead thanks to a calamitous moment for Pokatilov.
The danger for Sabah looked to have been averted when Joshua Zirkzee’s backheel from Fernandes’s scooped free-kick was blocked.
But the ball bobbled around the Kazakh goalkeeper’s feet and he presented Martinez the chance to slam into an empty net.
Much tougher tests of what United are capable of back at Europe’s top table await, starting with their next Champions League outing at Atletico Madrid in five weeks’ time.
But victory capped a fine week for English clubs with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City also off to winning starts.
