A third goal of the season for Jadon Sancho opened the way and perhaps took some solace in his latest omission from the England squad. before half-time, Cristiano Ronaldo, not used to waiting so long, broke his duck for the campaign with a penalty and a strong United team relaxed after that. Erik ten Hag had taken no chances with his starting line-up, perhaps aware that minutes for his best players were more useful than not given that they will not play together again until the derby on October 2. It was a fairly productive runout, executed without the need to overextend against opponents who were in no way recognizable from the team that beat Real Madrid in the Champions League almost a year ago. The serial title winners in Moldova caused a shock then, but such is the flow of their squad that none of the starters on that unfathomable night at the Bernabeu started this game. Some have gone on to bigger things, while the coach who masterminded the feat, Yuriy Vernydub, left to serve in his native Ukraine’s army and now coaches FC Kryvbas. Russia’s invasion had a more immediate impact on this game: it was played in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, because UEFA prevented Sheriff from playing home games in the Russian-backed breakaway state of Transnistria. Sheriff started with speed, Burkina Faso pair Cedric Badolo and Abou Ouattara providing energy and quick feet to both sides. Mouhamed Diop curled an effort just wide of the area and it was enough to excite the home crowd. “Difficult start,” admitted Ten Haag, who was unhappy with the number of second balls Sheriff won early on. But United quieted them down quickly enough, scoring at the first moment of real threat. The goal was cleverly built and worked, Christian Eriksen finding space before cutting a clever ball inside for Sancho to control with his foot. Sancho missed Armel Zohouri with a deft turn on his left foot and drilled hard past Maksym Koval. “I am really pleased [for him]”, Ten Haag said of Sancho, whose United career is starting to take off. “He’s doing well, but I think there’s a lot more room for improvement for him because he has so many skills.” He used them again to beat Koval, who had troubled his team, from a corner but was denied by Stjepan Radeljic’s heroic clearance. That appeared to keep Sheriff, who had kept United honest when Iyi Atiemwen fired wide, in the contest, but he was through within seconds. Diogo Dalot, perhaps United’s best performer on the night, pounced on a broken pass from Bruno Fernandes and was cut down needlessly by Patrick Kpozo. the penalty award was not challenged. Jadon Sancho scores the first goal for Manchester United. Photo: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters Ronaldo went close when he crashed over after a fine pass from Antoni, but he had no trouble finding his bearings from this more conventional position. He shot straight down the middle and now sits one short of the team’s 700 goals, a goal he tried to achieve in the second period with a sideways effort that went wide. “He is very close, when he gets fit he will score more,” Ten Hag said. “Ronaldo needed that goal. Many times he came close, but he wanted it so badly. We are happy for him and the team wanted to get him a goal. You know Cristiano will score a penalty.” It was also a safe bet that United had won the game from that point. The second period was a non-event apart from an early burst of excitement when Fernandes was denied by Koval after cutting Dalot. The impressive Badolo gave David de Gea something to do with a rare effort and Rasheed Akanbi briefly caused flutters with a lob, but any sense of danger was long gone. United could be involved and Ten Haag, who deployed Casemiro in place of Scott McTominay in the interim, could consider his selections vindicated in an effective exercise. “It’s all about picking the best team in every game,” he said. “We have a good team, so everyone can play.” It wasn’t nearly the most enlightening of feelings, but then it wasn’t the most exciting of nights.
