Support truly
independent journalism
New signing Leny Yoro made his first appearance and Jadon Sancho took to the field in a Manchester United shirt for the first time in 11 months in Saturday’s 2-0 pre-season friendly victory over Rangers in Edinburgh.
Both players played the first 45 minutes at Murrayfield before Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag changed his entire outfield 10 for the second period of a match settled by goals from Amad Diallo and Joe Hugill.
Just 48 hours after United paid more than £50million to secure his services from Lille, 18-year-old French defender Yoro was pitched into action, partnering Jonny Evans – a man twice his age – in the centre of defence.
The United supporters among a crowd of 56,574 at the home of Scottish rugby were equally excited to get a glimpse of England attacker Sancho for the first time since he patched up his differences with manager Ten Hag following their breakdown in relations last season.
The 24-year-old spent the second half of last term on loan at his previous club Borussia Dortmund after claiming on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” following criticism from the United boss.
This was Sancho’s first outing in Manchester red since a substitute appearance in the 3-2 home win over Nottingham Forest on August 26 last year.
With several of their main men unavailable – including new signing Joshua Zirkzee – after their recent exploits at Euro 2024, Andre Onana, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Evans and Mason Mount were among the other notable names in United’s starting XI, along with Diallo, who had a spell on loan with Rangers in 2022.
While the United side had a relatively unfamiliar look to it, Gers boss Philippe Clement sent out a team made up of established names, along with summer signings Jefte, Connor Barron and Oscar Cortes, a fortnight ahead of their Premiership opener at Hearts.
However, as had been the case for the friendlies against Standard Liege and Ajax in the Netherlands earlier this month, James Tavernier and Todd Cantwell remained absent from the squad amid speculation they are close to leaving Ibrox. The club insist both players are still recovering from injury.
Diallo, who made 13 appearances during an underwhelming loan spell with Rangers just over two years ago, broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when he cut in from the right, getting away from Jefte all too easily, and fired a low shot beyond Jack Butland from just inside the box.
Ten Hag – whose side have another four weeks before they kick off their Premier League campaign against Fulham – rang the changes for the start of the second half.
Jack Fletcher, the 17-year-old son of United coach and former Scotland captain Darren Fletcher, and Will Fish, swiftly back in Edinburgh after spending the previous two seasons on loan at Hibernian, were among a relatively inexperienced batch of players entering the fray.
Hugill, 20, sealed the Old Trafford side’s victory with an emphatic 70th-minute strike in off the underside of the crossbar.
