Manchester United mark Champions League return with 4-0 win over debutants Sabah

Manchester United marked their return to the Champions League with a commanding 4-0 victory against Sabah, showcasing their superiority over the Azerbaijani champions.

Goals from Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko, and Lisandro Martinez underscored United's class, proving decisive against the relatively inexperienced Sabah, who were playing their first match at this level.

Manager Michael Carrick praised the team's attacking play, while Sabah's coach, Valdas Dambrauskas, acknowledged the steep learning curve for his players.

United's performance highlights the competitive challenges ahead in the Champions League, with tougher matches, such as against Atletico Madrid, looming.

MANCHESTER, Sept 11 — Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 win on their return to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons as Azerbaijani champions Sabah were taught a lesson on their debut among Europe’s elite yesterday.

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.

“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. — AFP

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曼联重返欧冠联赛，以 4-0 大胜萨巴赫，展现了他们对阿塞拜疆冠军的绝对优势。

马特乌斯·库尼亚、布鲁诺·费尔南德斯、本杰明·塞斯科和利桑德罗·马丁内斯的进球凸显了联队的实力，对相对缺乏经验的沙巴队（这是他们第一次参加这个级别的比赛）来说，这场比赛起到了决定性的作用。

主教练迈克尔·卡里克称赞了球队的进攻表现，而沙巴队教练瓦尔达斯·丹布劳斯卡斯则承认他的球员们面临着陡峭的学习曲线。

曼联的表现凸显了他们在欧冠联赛中面临的严峻挑战，接下来还将迎来更艰难的比赛，例如对阵马德里竞技的比赛。

曼彻斯特，9 月 11 日——曼联在时隔三个赛季重返欧冠联赛的首秀中以 4-0 轻松取胜，而阿塞拜疆冠军萨巴赫队则在昨天的欧洲精英赛事首秀中受到了教训。

马特乌斯·库尼亚、布鲁诺·费尔南德斯、本杰明·塞斯科和利桑德罗·马丁内斯在老特拉福德球场取得进球，红魔曼联凭借有利的抽签结果，成功开启了他们的欧冠征程。

曼联在英超联赛的开局并不理想，在前三场比赛中仅取得四分，对手分别是升班马赫尔城和伊普斯维奇，以及客场挑战埃弗顿。

然而，三届欧洲冠军和一支仅成立九年的俱乐部之间的实力差距，在库尼亚于第 27 分钟打开进球闸门后就显露无疑。

“能够零封对手并赢得比赛当然很棒，”曼联主帅迈克尔·卡里克说道。“我认为我们的一些进攻非常精彩，踢出的足球也确实很漂亮。”

沙巴队一路过关斩将，经过四轮资格赛，终于赢得了在梦剧场（纽约体育场）比赛的机会。

对于教练瓦尔达斯·丹布劳斯卡斯来说，这是他重返老特拉福德球场。他童话般的欧冠之旅始于在曼联足球学校担任教练，同时为了维持生计，他还兼职好几份工作。

丹布劳斯卡斯甚至在比赛开始前就承认，沙巴赫队在发展过程中跳过了几个阶段，因为他们在参加欧联杯或联盟杯之前就直接晋级了冠军联赛。

“今晚我们回家时都会觉得，我们本可以做得更好一些，”丹布劳斯卡斯说道。

“我感觉我们不是害怕，而是缺乏足够的勇气，特别是从后防线向前推进。”

卡里克很难想象还有比周日与曼城的曼彻斯特德比更轻松的赛程安排了。

卢克·肖、哈里·马奎尔和马库斯·拉什福德完全被排除在比赛名单之外，而尤里·蒂勒曼斯、科比·马努、布莱恩·姆贝莫和塞斯科在下半场得到了休息。

尽管曼联近三年来首次参加欧冠联赛，现场有 74,000 名观众，但萨巴赫丝毫没有怯场，开局表现自信。

然而，一旦曼联火力全开，他们就无法与这支英超豪门抗衡了。

帕特里克·多尔古在卢克·肖缺阵的情况下表现出色，他送出一记精准的传中，库尼亚在近门柱附近将球顶入球门，打入首粒进球。

上半场结束前三分钟内连入两球，比赛就此结束。

蒂勒曼斯和费尔南德斯之间的一次漂亮的配合，为曼联队长创造了机会，让他在本赛季的两个主场比赛中打入了第四个进球。

随后，姆贝莫将球传给塞斯科，塞斯科晃过斯塔斯·波卡蒂洛夫，将球打入空门，为他本赛季的首次首发打入一球。

曼联在第二节比赛中可以轻松取胜，但波卡蒂洛夫的一次灾难性失误让他们扩大了领先优势。

萨巴赫的危险似乎已经解除，因为约书亚·齐尔克齐用脚后跟接费尔南德斯挑传的任意球射门被挡出。

但球在哈萨克斯坦门将的脚下弹来弹去，给了马丁内斯射空门的机会。

曼联重返欧洲顶级赛场后，将面临更加严峻的考验，首先就是五周后客场挑战马德里竞技的欧冠比赛。

但这场胜利也为英格兰俱乐部精彩的一周画上了圆满的句号，阿森纳、阿斯顿维拉、利物浦和曼城也都取得了开门红。——法新社

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