Five Talking Points From United's Derby Win

The first Manchester derby outside of the UK was held in Houston, Texas, on Thursday night in the International Champions Cup. Here are five talking points to stem from the game…

1: RASHFORD AND LUKAKU UP FRONT
In the pre-match press conference, Jose Mourinho said Marcus Rashford can easily play up front with Romelu Lukaku and the boss duly named them both in the starting XI for the first time. They delivered the goods, too, producing excellent finishes to beat Manchester City's new goalkeeper Ederson Moraes towards the end of the first half, putting the Reds 2-0 up at the break. Lukaku almost scored on 54 minutes as well, when his rocket-fuelled shot cannoned off the woodwork. The pair's clinical performances bode well for the season, easing any goalscoring concerns following the departures of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney from the squad.

2: MICKI LOOKS RAZOR SHARP
Henrikh Mkhitaryan told us this week his best United form is still to come, and it looks like he will produce it during 2017/18 judging by his pre-season displays. The popular Armenian scored in both games against the MLS teams LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, and he registered an eye-catching assist for Rashford’s first-half finish in Houston. A number of other creative players are also impressing in the tour matches, including Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba, but this was another display of #MickiMagic.
 
3: DRAKE LED THE TEAMS OUT
The pre-match show was full of North American razzmatazz, as a rousing rendition of the national anthem was followed by an elaborate light show that beamed both club crests onto the pitch. Then, Canadian rapper Drake led the teams out of the tunnel dressed in a colourful outfit that only a hip hop star could pull off! Just to add some extra star power, local NFL hero J.J. Watt, a player for the Houston Texans, performed the coin toss for the captains.

4: HOUSTON IS RED
The NRG Stadium is a spectacular multi-purpose venue that can hold up to 72,220 fans at full capacity and on Thursday, with the roof closed and the air-conditioning on, it was filled with expectant football fans. Although we don’t have the exact figures, from the vantage point of the press box (at the top of the fourth tier) it looked like 70 per cent of the arena was filled with the red shirts of United. Nice!

5: SUPPORT FOR MANCHESTER
The most important talking point from Thursday night is that both United and City wore special-edition shirts bearing the iconic Manchester worker bee image on the chest. The match jerseys will now be sold on eBay and all proceeds will go to those affected by the Manchester Arena terror attack. The presence of the bee on both shirts follows the launch of #ACITYUNITED in May, when the Blue and Red halves of Manchester came together to pledge a £1 million joint donation to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.