That Manchester United were destined to see off their Champions League opener with ease was never truly in doubt. Even before Matheus Cunha opened the scoring with the first of three first-half goals to dismantle Azerbaijan champions Sabah, the gap in quality between the two sides was abundantly clear.
The disparity between these teams was perfectly illustrated by United’s fourth goal in this commanding 4-0 victory. Bruno Fernandes cheekily lofted a free kick over the defensive line, Joshua Zirkzee met it with a backheel, and Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov wrapped himself in contortions searching for a ball that had already landed at his feet. Lisandro Martinez will never score a simpler goal. At least this season, United are unlikely to face a more tractable opponent. Football is a low-scoring, high-variance sport, but even so, a side carrying a lower ELO rating than Leicester City will be fortunate to keep the scoreline within reach.
Sabah may feel they had grounds to believe an upset was possible, and they will wonder what might have been had fortune favored them at that pivotal moment. Kaheem Parris had been giving Patrick Dorgu considerable trouble in the first half, and his quick feet earned him the space to hang a cross toward the back post. Joy-Lance Mickels met it well, and there was just enough room between Senne Lammens and his post for the ball to squirm through. Instead, the header flashed into the side netting, and Sabah’s best chance of a historic goal was gone.
Whatever the outcome, a goal at the Theatre of Dreams would surely have made the journey worthwhile for the 500 traveling supporters in Old Trafford’s away end. It would not have implied any genuine threat to the result. For a team like Sabah to pull off an upset when so comprehensively overmatched demands a level of organization on and off the ball that they simply could not deliver.
Rather than playing a half-open shape designed for a counter, Parris instead rolled the ball carelessly into midfield. What had amounted to five players behind the play for United became an overwhelming numerical advantage inside the Sabah box, Dorgu crossing impeccably for Cunha to flick in his first Champions League goal.
Given the dominance United had enjoyed, that goal would eventually have arrived with or without Sabah’s help, though the first 26 minutes followed a disappointingly familiar trend for Michael Carrick this season. All the possession and territorial advantage was not being deployed with any real authority — too many sideways passes and low-tempo sequences meant that before the opener, United had mustered just six shots worth a meager 0.26 xG. There were perhaps too many echoes of Everton and Hull City before Cunha finally broke the deadlock.
Instead, United found their stride as they had against Ipswich. In the closing minutes of the first half, Carrick’s side discovered genuine sharpness. Perhaps that composure comes more naturally against Sabah than it will against anyone else this season, with Rahman Dasdamirov the chief architect of Benjamin Sesko’s goal through a grim misjudgement of the offside trap.
Equally, teams of far greater quality than Sabah will find no answer for the move that produced United’s second goal, as Dorgu fed Cunha and continued a purposeful run down the overlap. That created space for Youri Tielemans to arrive centrally, a first-time flick in the box then finding Fernandes to roll in with authority.
Would Manchester City prove to be one of those teams unable to quell Fernandes and company? That remains to be seen, but Carrick can at least approach Sunday’s derby secure in the knowledge that his side enjoyed a considerably easier run of fixtures just 48 hours after their rivals began their Champions League campaign. Tielemans, Sesko, Dorgu, Bryan Mbeumo and Kobbie Mainoo all had their feet up long before the Old Trafford faithful started filtering out. Those on the pitch got through without a knock or niggle. That really was all that was required tonight.