Real Madrid 2 Manchester United 1: Uefa Super Cup woe for Jose Mourinho despite Romelu Lukaku goal

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James Benge8 August 2017

Manchester United were offered a warning of the gulf in class between themselves and Europe’s finest in their 2-1 Uefa Super Cup defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in Skopje.

Though Romelu Lukaku’s first competitive goal for his new club gave the scoreline a measure of optimism Europa League champions United struggled to keep up with their Spanish rivals.

Even without star player Cristiano Ronaldo, left on the bench ahead of kick-off, Madrid’s formidable attack was too much to control, Casemiro and Isco scoring two exceptional strikes either side of half-time.

United were handed an early warning when Casemiro flicked a header against a bar as Jose Mourinho’s giant defence lost their man, not for the first time after Gareth Bale had also seen a flicked volley flash past David De Gea’s goal.

Europe’s finest had Jose Mourinho’s side overawed without the need to overexert themselves and five minutes of remorseless pressure told when Madrid’s breakthrough came from a surprising source.

Right-back Dani Carvajal clipped a long ball towards the back post where Casemiro flicked a left-footed volley past De Gea.

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There were suspicions of offside but summer signing Victor Lindelof did the English side no favours by failing to keep in line with fellow centre-back Chris Smalling.

A drinks break after half an hour gave United the chance to regroup and they slightly rallied, pressing Madrid higher up the field and forcing a few half-chances, most notably a header from Lukaku straight at Keylor Navas.

It got no easier for Mourinho’s men in the second half and the magnificent Isco doubled the European champions advantage on 52 minutes, a fine one-two with Bale leaving him free to roll the ball into the bottom corner.

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Moments later United’s chance came. Herrera’s cross found Pogba unmarked in the area but the French international’s header was right at Navas. The Costa Rican should have done better than push the ball into Lukaku’s path but a £75million striker should hit the target from six yards out.

Lukaku made no mistake when a second opportunity presented itself, tapping home after Navas had spilled a Nemanja Matic drive into his path.

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Substitute Marcus Rashford could have fired the tie into extra time after being slipped through by Henrikh Mkhitaryan but put his effort too close to Navas, who this time pushed a shot away from danger.

United ended the match with a flurry of pressure on a tiring Madrid but the European champions’ class told as they claimed a fifth trophy since the start of last season.