United v Dortmund: 12 trending topics

Erik ten Hag's side were superior for most of the first half and led through Diogo Dalot's eye-catching goal, but a blink-and-you'll-miss-it double from Donyell Malen turned the scoreline and the mood at the awe-inspiring Allegiant Arena in Las Vegas.

Substitute Antony did restore parity shortly after the break, but Youssoufa Moukoko struck 20 minutes from time to make it 3-2 and leave United ruing several missed chances and defensive errors.

Here's your quick run-through of what happened in and around the game in Nevada...

ANOTHER MINDBLOWING ARENA

Opened in 2020, the arena where United and Dortmund met is truly astonishing. Home to the Las Vegas Raiders, it's another air-conditioned giant, although the windows at one end of the stadium can open up, giving incredible views of the famed Las Vegas strip. That didn’t happen on Sunday, with temperatures rocketing above 40 degrees in the desert city, but there was still plenty to admire from our privileged vantage point up in the gods. Every seat in this stadium offers perfect sightlines, but what would you expect from the second most expensive venue on the planet, built at a cost of two billion dollars?

FIGHT ROYALTY IN THE HOUSE

Vegas was the scene of one of the most anticipated boxing matches in years on Saturday, as Terence Crawford stopped Errol Spence Jr in the ninth round at the T-Mobile Arena to become the undisputed world welterweight champion. Neither man was in attendance for this clash – perhaps they were too sore from the bout! – but Joe Joyce and Chris Eubank Jr shared a word with MUTV prior to kick-off, while UFC fighter Francis Ngannou was also pitchside as he prepares to make his boxing debut later in the year, against United fan and the still-undefeated Tyson Fury.

ERIK MIXES THINGS UP

With a further two friendlies to follow before the beginning of the season, Ten Hag took the chance to tweak his whole starting XI from the defeat to Real Madrid in Houston. The headline swaps saw Omari Forson getting the nod in a front three, Tom Heaton replacing Andre Onana in goal and Scott McTominay wearing the armband, although apart from that the rest of the line-up was largely similar to that which had closed out the game in Texas. There was still plenty of strength on the bench, as the Dutchman had 15 names to call upon, including Jonny Evans, Dan Gore and Joe Hugill, who retained their places on the tour after initially travelling with the younger party for the San Diego friendly against Wrexham. Alejandro Garnacho and Raphael Varane were absent for precautionary reasons, while Amad has a knee issue.

SANCHO CATCHES UP

Dortmund were, of course, the club with which Jadon became a global name and, after four years with the Bundesliga club, it’s clear he still has a lot of friends in Germany. After walking out of the tunnel on arrival, the forward greeted club staff and shook hands with former team-mates Raphael Guerreiro and Julian Brandt. Pre-season offers a chance for players and managers to reacquaint and Ten Hag, Lisandro Martinez and Antony also shared a deep conversation with Sebastian Haller, the former Ajax striker who made a remarkable recovery from cancer last season. "We have a very strong relationship, we are friends and I'm so proud of him when he had such a bad illness and you recover, but not only recover, he’s returning to top football," said Erik to MUTV. "That is a huge achievement and tells [you] everything about his mentality and the personality and character Sebastian has, so really well done."

SABITZER STARTS

The former United loanee joined Dortmund last week from Bayern Munich and he made his first start in the black and yellow in Vegas, setting up the second of Malen's two goals. Marcel appeared for the Reds 18 times during the second half of last term, scoring three goals and helping the club to the Carabao Cup trophy success – our first silverware win in six years.

UNITED’S HIGH LINE

Since the arrival of Onana, there has been plenty of talk about how we’ll play further up the pitch this season. But even with the Cameroonian on the bench and Heaton starting, the shift of the defensive line was clear to see. Early on, the Reds had a corner and all 10 outfield players were within 25 yards of the Dortmund byline, with Heaton positioned on the centre circle. Ten Hag wants the opposition to feel the pressure in uncomfortable areas, that’s for sure.

ARM AROUND THE SHOULDER

Youngsters will always be given an opportunity at United and Forson got his as he was named to start on the right, following previous pre-season appearances against Leeds, Lyon and Arsenal. The 19-year-old drew the game’s opening chance, as he forced Kobel into a reaction save, and looked threatening when he cut inside, but a booking picked up for a disagreement with Karim Adeyemi was perhaps behind Ten Hag’s decision to replace him with Antony on 37 minutes. As Forson departed the pitch, he was met by his boss, who spent a good 60 seconds or so with his arm around the young forward, presumably explaining the substitution.

PE-LEFT-STRI

The vast majority of Facundo Pellistri’s nascent United career has been played out on the right wing, but the last two matches have seen Ten Hag deploy the Uruguayan on the left. Our no.28 has shown that he can be effective too, and he made life difficult for Dortmund’s right-back Marius Wolf throughout the first half, winning the free-kick from which the Reds eventually worked the position to score the opener through Dalot’s bending strike. He also caused Mats Hummels to receive a booking, when the Dortmund defender brought him down following a mazy dribble. Whether Facundo's season is played out with the Reds or out on loan somewhere, we're keen to see how he develops as he's a player who loves to run at opponents and make things happen.

DORTMUND BITE BACK

United looked to be heading into the break with a comfortable 1-0 advantage, which could have arguably been greater. But two defensive lapses of concentration within 60 seconds turned the game on its head, with Malen twice the beneficiary. A missed tackle from Brandon Williams led to the ball breaking free for the Dutchman to prod home and then Victor Lindelof's misplaced pass allowed Malen to drive through the middle and slot beyond Heaton to leave Ten Hag having to rethink his team talk.

ANOTHER DONNY ASSIST

After a great save from Onana - a half-time replacement for Heaton - prevented Dortmund making it 3-1, United levelled through Antony. It was a typical finish from the Brazilian, as he curled into the far corner with his left foot, and yet another goal involvement for van de Beek in this pre-season. The Dutchman scored against Lyon and then teed up Dalot's opener here, before staying calm after Hummels scuffed his clearance to ensure Antony could finish simply into the net.

REDS RUE MISSED CHANCES

Another defensive slip-up allowed Marco Reus and Moukoko to combine for the eventual winner but, in truth, United should have been home and hosed by then. Aaron Wan-Bissaka blazed a shot over shortly after coming on, while Antony’s effort also drifted the wrong side of the post in the closing stages as the Reds sought an equaliser that just wouldn’t come. When Hugill raced through with five minutes remaining, it looked as though that might be the moment, but Alexander Meyer pulled out a superb stop. Another frustrating result on tour for Ten Hag and his men, but hopefully he has learned lessons that he can put into practice for the start of the season proper.

A CHANCE TO SEE UNITED

Although the Allegiant Stadium wasn't completely full, the final attendance for the match was given as 50,857, meaning a grand total of 235,168 supporters have taken in our four games across the States over the past eight days. That's almost a quarter of a million!