The extended highlights do not do Manchester United's opening goal against Sheriff justice. The ball was worked from left to right and there were at least 11 passes before Jadon Sancho received the ball inside the area. In total, 14 passes preceded Sancho's 17th-minute goal.
United were exclusively dependent on the counter-attack in the defeat of Arsenal in their last Premier League game and it procured the winner against Liverpool. They have primarily mastered the proactive play Erik ten Hag favours in pre-season and Chisinau in the Europa League is not an acid test.
"You see we can play between the lines and we adapted our game and we scored a great goal," Ten Hag said, "and from that moment on we dictated the game total."
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It serves as a benchmark going forward, although that idealism might be tempered at the Etihad in 16 days' time. That is another fixture where United may rely on breakaways, as they have done against City in the past, particularly if Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial regain fitness.
Ten Hag is unlikely to entertain comparisons with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, so tactically limited he barely evolved in nearly three years as United manager. City will not scent blood as they did at Old Trafford last year as Ten Hag is bound to resist a panicky reversion to a defensive trident, a trademark of Solskjaer's against the elite.
Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were paired together less than a month ago and already have the makings of a long-term matrimony. Martinez, confrontational in the first minute against Liverpool, is the fire to Varane's ice.
"The reason (for another clean sheet) is we were good in possession and we defended very well," Ten Hag said in Chisinau. "With Rapha Varane there as the leader, he puts everyone in the right position, he fits really good together with Licha Martinez and also the two full-backs did their job really good."
Ten Hag highlighted United's set-up on the left-hand side behind their dominance. Martinez's line-breaking passes helped fashion the breakthrough against Liverpool and his distribution is as much of an asset as his uncompromising defending.
Ajax first clapped eyes on Martinez in January 2017 when he was only 19 and their convincing scouting report in 2019 was prescient: "His play-in pass with the left is top notch; hard and clean so that a number of opponents are immediately cut out of the play.
"His long ball is also good. He plays a ball 30 to 40 metres to midfielders running in behind the defence so that they are directly one-on-one with the keeper. He has the ball on a string when he dribbles in and almost always has a good follow-up in his passing." Against Sheriff, Martinez's piercing pass from defensive to attacking third created Cristiano Ronaldo's first opportunity.
The Dutch-schooled duo of Martinez and Tyrell Malacia have exceeded expectations during a testing start in England. Malacia was unfortunate not to start the season but ousted Shaw midway through the debacle at Brentford and was outstanding on his full debut against Liverpool.
Bukayo Saka gave Malacia a few chasings yet he recovered with a sliding tackle that was worthy of a clip in Match of the Day's analysis of the Arsenal win. Ahead of Malacia, Sancho is in his element.
"I think Jadon has so much has potential," Ten Hag opined. "He had a good pre-season. First, he invested a lot and is on his way to getting really fit.
"It is a process, he scores goal and is in the moment in the season where he is more secure. We can play over that left side with Tyrell and Eriksen in that triangle, [and] how they moved together, I think they really were a threat for the opponent."
In the move for Sancho's strike, Eriksen is on the left, drifts to the right, drops deep and advances into the final third. For all the £225.4million invested in the summer, it is the 'freebie' Eriksen who is United's player of the month and worthy of a Premier League nomination.
He has done enough to secure his own highlights package.
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