Manchester United got goals from Juan Mata, Andres Pereira and Memphis to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 at Avaya Stadium. We’ve got the video of all three of those scoring strikes for your viewing pleasure here. Overall, it was a more complete effort than the first game versus Club America. United dominated the time of possession in the first half and created many more scoring chances than the Earthquakes in the first 45 minutes.
-It was interesting to see Sam Johnstone get all 90 minutes this time; instead of just the first half like he had versus Club America, Louis van Gaal went with the exact same starting XI as he had in the first match on the preseason tour.
-Juan Mata took home man of the match honors. He scored the first goal of the game and looked close to his best. This is the guy who Ed Woodward paid £37.5 million for from Chelsea; the club record signing at the time.
-Wayne Rooney, as well as the rest of the Man United players, got the rock star treatment from the fans tonight:
@WayneRooney just one of several @ManUtd players fans went nuts for after match. Barricades were flexing. #ICC2015 pic.twitter.com/JJY4s9OswJ
— Joseph Geha (@josephgeha16) July 22, 2015
-According to the FOX Sports broadcast team, United flew from Seattle to Bay Area on the Rolling Stones private jet. Yes, the same exact plane that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company fly on.
-Louis van Gaal has been eager in the last few days to point out how the media doesn’t discuss all the players he’s sold. The Dutchman reminded everyone at the press conference yesterday that he’s had to sell 17 players in the short time that he’s been the boss. He also mentioned that these Major League Soccer opponents he’s faced are all in midseason form and match fitness. Yes, MLS is like the 5th-7th best league in the world only; so United should be totally crushing these teams. But as Van Gaal pointed out, they’re in match fitness form while Man United are still in preseason training.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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