Manchester United return to the Champions League with a 4–0: patient for 27 minutes, then three goals before half-time.
The numbers
| Manchester United | Sabah FK | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 58% | 42% |
| Shots | 21 | 11 |
| On target | 10 | 0 |
| xG | 3.54 | 0.84 |
| Touches in opp. box | 42 | 12 |
| Pass accuracy | 91% | 86% |
Result the chances deserved: Manchester United 86% / 9% / Sabah FK 5% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens, Mazraoui, Yoro, Martínez, Dorgu, Tielemans, Mainoo, Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha, Šeško.
Sabah FK (4-3-3): Pokatilov, Zedadka, Dashdamirov, McCarthy, Puchacz, Lepinjica, Rakhmonaliev, Simić, Parris, Mickels, Nwachukwu.
Sabah subs: Mbina (46'), Isayev (63'), Khaybulaev (72'), Du Queiroz (75'), Almeida (76'). Sabah head coach: Valdas Dambrauskas. Line-ups, shapes, xG and referee from FotMob; Sabah's midfield order is our reading. Sources differ slightly on the second and third goal times (The National has 38' and 41').
Key moments, move by move
- Parris gives the ball away in Sabah's half (BBN Times; SI credits Mbeumo with pouncing on the loose pass).
- Fernandes plays it straight out to Dorgu, pushed up on the left like a winger.
- Dorgu drives to the byline and whips a low cross across the six-yard box.
- Cunha gets to the near post first and finishes across Pokatilov.
- Mainoo finds Tielemans, who has left the double pivot and ghosted into the box.
- Tielemans turns his marker with a pirouette near the byline.
- He cuts it back to the penalty spot.
- Fernandes arrives unmarked and side-foots it in: his fourth goal in two home games.
- Mbeumo, drifting in from the right, spots Šeško's run between the centre-backs.
- He slides the pass through and Šeško is clean through on his first start of the season.
- Šeško takes it round Pokatilov and rolls it into the empty net.
- Fernandes scoops a free kick from the right towards the near post.
- Substitute Zirkzee flicks it on with a backheel.
- Pokatilov can't hold it in the scramble.
- Martínez stabs the loose ball in from close range.
Dorgu as a winger, Tielemans as a runner
- Left-side overload: Dorgu played as a de facto winger from left-back (Sky Sports), with Cunha coming inside. Dorgu had nine touches in the Sabah box and set up the opener (FotMob via Yardbarker).
- Runs from deep: Tielemans broke into the box from the double pivot to make the second goal, and Mainoo ran the midfield behind him (The National rated both 8/10).
- Sabah's 4-3-3 held until the first goal, then stopped squeezing the space in front of their back four. Their coach said so himself: "when you don't squeeze that space and you allow those players to turn and run it is almost impossible to stop them."
- What Sabah had: 11 shots but none on target and 0.84 xG. The best chance was Mickels heading wide from inside the six-yard box at 1–0 (36').
Recreate it in FM26
United's left-back winger and runs from midfield
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Lammens | Ball-Playing Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | Mazraoui | Inside Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Yoro | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back |
| LCB | Martínez | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LB | Dorgu | Advanced Wing-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RDM | Tielemans | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Mainoo | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Mbeumo | Inside Winger | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Fernandes | Advanced Playmaker | Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Cunha | Inside Forward | Tracking Winger |
| ST | Šeško | Channel Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Build-Up StrategyPlay Through Press
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- Progress ThroughLeft
- Attacking WidthWider
- TempoHigher
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Trigger PressMore Often
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
- Defensive LineHigher
The idea: Dorgu overlaps outside Cunha as an extra winger while Tielemans breaks into the box from the double pivot. You need a left-back with a winger's stamina and crossing, and a midfielder who times late runs, with a Deep-Lying Playmaker covering behind them both.
What FM26 can't copy: The goals came once Sabah stopped squeezing the space in front of their back four, and FM26 won't make an AI opponent do that for you.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Lacey on at 60' not 72' (for Mbeumo), Fletcher on at 64' (for Fernandes). Change little in the shape. The useful thing was to rest Mbeumo and Fernandes for the derby while still adding a fresh runner. United would still have won this comfortably. It moves Manchester United's win chance from 86% to 86% (xG 3.54–0.84 becomes 3.54–0.84). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Manchester United needed
Marcus Rashford
Once Sabah came out after the first goal, the game was all about running into space. Rashford is United's quickest player going forward and the best at running at a retreating back four. He would have made the second half more dangerous than it was, when United scored only once from a set piece.
Jamal Musiala
It took United 27 minutes to break down a compact 4-3-3, and the opener needed a Sabah mistake. Musiala is one of the best in Europe at receiving between the lines in tight spaces and dribbling past the first defender. He would help most in the first half-hour, the only part of this game that was difficult.
What the analysts said
“I think it was kind of what we set out to achieve, good performance, individually and collectively throughout the game.”Michael Carrick
“Speed, physicality, ability to play on the last line and run in behind. Great to have him back.”Michael Carrick on Šeško
“I didn't feel like we were shaking or scared, we tried to play, for the whole 90 minutes we did that.”Valdas Dambrauskas
“When you don't squeeze that space and you allow those players to turn and run it is almost impossible to stop them.”Valdas Dambrauskas
A routine win that shows what Manchester United's attack needs: space.
Nothing about the result was surprising. Manchester United had 3.54 xG to 0.84, 42 touches in the Sabah box to 12, and ten shots on target to none. The first 27 minutes were more even than that looks, though. Sabah kept their shape, and Mickels should have done better with a free header at 1–0.
Once Cunha scored, Sabah had to come out, and that changed the game. United scored three times in 18 minutes, all from running at a team that was no longer compact: Dorgu to the byline, Tielemans into the box, Šeško in behind. Carrick praised how dangerous his side were in transition (The National), and Dambrauskas described the same thing from the other side.
That's the lesson for the rest of the season. United's best football comes when there is space to run into. Against Ipswich and Sabah, teams that opened up, they scored nine. Against teams that sit deep and stay compact, like Hull on the opening day (Yahoo Sports makes the same link) or City with ten men three days later, they have scored none. Šeško, who runs in behind, helps against the first type. He doesn't solve the second.