Report: United 0 Leeds 0

Debuting our new white away shirt with white shorts and socks to boot, summer additions Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon both impressed on their maiden appearances for the club, at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm.

Our two best opportunities came at the end of either half, when a deflected Casemiro cross struck the woodwork, and there was the same outcome for Kobbie Mainoo's header late in the second, while Tom Heaton made a string of impressive stops after the half-time interval.

Read on for our account of the first sighting of the Reds in the 2025/26 season...

After observing a minute’s silence in memory of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva, following their tragic passing earlier this month, Ruben Amorim’s side took to the pitch for the first time in 2025/26.

Supporters’ eyes would no doubt have been most keenly cast upon our latest arrivals Cunha and Leon, making their first starts for United, while our XI also included places for youngsters Toby Collyer and Chido Obi, with Bruno Fernandes the skipper.

It was Leeds who posed the first threat, when Jayden Bogle found room down the right flank and crossed towards Lukas Nmecha at the near post, whose glancing header was nodded clear by Noussair Mazraoui.

United’s new faces began to make an impression, Leon consistently getting up and down the left side, while Cunha arguably showed himself as the standout man in a gritty opening 45 minutes.

Clever trickery to win fouls off Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka within a matter of moments were soon followed by a clever switch of play to Amad, who was also supplying plenty of energy down the right.

Obi was looking sharp, too, glancing a header off target from a Fernandes free-kick delivery, before drawing a save from Leeds stopper Karl Darlow from a tight angle, just after the half-hour mark.

Leon was among those to have an effort blocked as part of a flurry of shots, before Cunha and Obi looked to combine - the former cleverly flicking into the path of the Dane from a Luke Shaw pass - as the young forward was also denied by a block.

Cunha played Amad down the right side of the box and our no.16 fired wide, and Obi did likewise with a left-foot drive sent just wide from the edge of the box, though he might have opted to let the ball run a touch longer for Cunha to shoot on that occasion.

United had a final opportunity to sneak in front before the interval and almost did so in freak fashion, when Casemiro’s angled cross was deflected onto the bar by Ampadu, with Leon unable to divert it back into the centre on the opposite flank, as the half ended goalless.

United began the second half with an entirely new XI on the pitch, again featuring plenty of senior heads. Diogo Dalot wore no.2 for the first time as a Red with Harry Maguire wearing the captain’s armband, while Academy youngster Bendito Mantato took up an attacking role. Leeds made eight half-time changes, among whom were two former Reds in Dan James and Largie Ramazani.

Tom Heaton made the first real impact of any Red after the break - standing firm to keep out a close-range strike from Bogle on the right of the area, despite suspicions of offside. Tanaka hit a half-volley into the ground and against the side netting from the resulting corner.

The offside flag was correctly raised on the hour mark when Ramazani was picked out bearing down on goal, with Heaton breaking off his line quickly to avert the danger anyway, before he was to know of the linesman’s intervention.

Joel Piroe broke the lines to find Ramazani in behind again as he opened up his body and looked to curl a shot inside the far-right corner, but Heaton produced his best stop yet with a sprawling, diving save to palm clear.

Manuel Ugarte provided the first test for Leeds’ substitute goalkeeper Illan Meslier, with a low strike from range, forcing a diving stop to his right-hand side, while Heaton made a similar stop back at the other end, as part of an ongoing duel with Ramazani.

If Leeds started the half the better, it was United who ended it in the ascendancy - with Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu providing significant threat from the left flank in particular.

He perhaps should have had a penalty in the challenge with Sam Chambers, but with no action from the referee forthcoming, he quickly got up and forced Meslier to palm his snapshot around the post.

A Mason Mount cross just evaded Tyler Fredricson at the back post, who replaced Maguire during the second half, and the final moments produced more danger - Kobbie Mainoo heading against the crossbar after Rasmus Hojlund had nodded back across goal, with Ayden Heaven just unable to convert the follow-up.

Dalot and Dorgu combined twice more before time was out, with the latter hitting a couple of first-time strikes, one inadvertently blocked by Hojlund and the other over Meslier’s crossbar.

The contest ended without either goal being breached, though Ruben Amorim will surely look back on this one as a useful first workout of the pre-season campaign, with positive signs evident in both halves, in front of more than 45,000 fans in Sweden.

MATCH DETAILS

UNITED

First-half XI: Bayindir; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Shaw; Amad, Casemiro, Collyer, Leon; Fernandes (c), Cunha; Obi.

Second-half XI: Heaton; Yoro, Maguire (Fredricson 74), Heaven; Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dorgu; Mantato (J.Fletcher 80), Mount; Hojlund. 

Subs not used: Mee, Kukonki, Munro, Kone, Williams. 

LEEDS

First-half XI: Darlow; Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Byram; Ampadu, Gruev; Gnonto, Tanaka, Harrison; Nmecha.

Second-half XI: Meslier; Bogle (Chambers 77), Bornauw, Struijk, Gudmundsson, Longstaff, Gruev (Crew 85); James, Tanaka (Gray), Ramazani, Piroe (Chadwick 89).

Subs not used: Cairns, Mahady.