Right then, I’m off. First, though, a gift for you. It’s a match report! Bye!
Swansea flooded their defence and held on tight, and with 10 minutes to play were only one down. Then Manchester United scored again, and again, and again
Updated
Sat 19 Aug 2017 09.37 EDT
First published on Sat 19 Aug 2017 06.30 EDT
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Key events
Pogba and Mkhitaryan do some chatting, starting with Pogba:
The game, we have a very good result. So we carry on on this road. We want this, and we have to carry on. I think we’re more confident. We know each other more. Everybody knows each other, we work for each other and I think that’s easier for us.
And continuing with Mkhitaryan, who got two assists and is the official man of the match:
Of course it was a tough game, especially in the first half, but we were patient, we were doing what we had to do. We scored in the first half and in the second half it became easier, because they played with four defenders and there was space behind the defensive line. We had team spirit last year, but this year we’re having a little bit of luck, we’ve started very well. The most important thing is that we keep doing the same.
Swansea worked hard, but never appeared to have much ambition beyond keeping the score down and in the end they couldn’t even do that. But for those six second-half minutes when the hosts finally crumbled United never really purred, but they have too much quality for limited sides to live with at the moment. Rashford was their brightest forward, and Martial continued in a similar vein when he came on, but they have any number of matchwinners at the moment.
Final score: Swansea 0-4 Manchester United
90+4 mins: Two games, eight goals, none conceded, six points. That’ll do for United.
90+2 mins: Ayew, who has to be fair tried very hard today, wins the ball, keeps it, protects it, loses it, wins it back and then shoots wide from 20 yards.
90+1 mins: There will be at least three minutes of stoppage time.
@Simon_Burnton Seriously, how do Swans expect to score without Sigurdsson?
— James Thomas (@jbtcardfan) August 19, 2017
This is a reasonable question, and one to which Swansea themselves don’t appear to have an answer.
88 mins: The margin of their defeat does Swansea a disservice, as they have defended well. But United do have a lot of good attacking players, and they don’t really have any (though Abraham may become one), and sooner or later that was going to become a problem.
85 mins: Both teams have made their final substitutions. McBurnie replaced Abraham for Swansea between goals three and four, and United bring Herrera on for Mkhitaryan, who was only influential for about 10 minutes, but they were good ones.
GOAL! Swansea 0-4 Manchester United (Martial, 84)
Classic Martial. The forward is picked out by Pogba, 40 yards from goal, and carries the ball to the edge of the area, cuts onto his right foot and slots inside the far post!
GOAL! Swansea 0-3 Manchester United (Pogba, 82)
And another one! Pogba intercepts the ball inside the centre circle and passes right to Mkhitaryan, who runs to the edge of the area and plays a perfect return pass. Pogba lifts the ball over the onrushing Fabianski, and suddenly it looks very comfortable indeed!
GOAL! Swansea 0-2 Manchester United (Lukaku, 80)
And surely that’ll win it! Martial, who has been bright since coming on, runs to the edge of the area and into the path of Mkhitaryan, who unlike the Frenchman can see Lukaku in oceans of space inside the penalty area and picks him out. The finish is straightforward.
78 mins: United stretch and probe the Swansea defence before finally losing the ball, which is promptly thumped straight down the other end for Abraham to chase, in vain.
74 mins: Pogba shoots wide from the free-kick, and United make their substitutions: Mata and Rashford are off, and Fellaini and Martial are on.
73 mins: Blind shoots high from 25 yards and is fouled by Fer mid-follow through. Fer gets booked.
72 mins: The second corner is an excellent one, but somehow bounces through the penalty area without getting a significant touch, both Ayew and Abraham coming close.
71 mins: Swansea are having their best spell of the match, and are preparing to take their second corner in quick succession. United, for the first time, are being forced into some sustained defending.
70 mins: United are readying a double substitution of their own, with Fellaini and Martial preparing to come on.
68 mins: Mkhitaryan, set up by Rashford, has another long-range shot. This one doesn’t need a deflection to go wide.
67 mins: A double substitution for Swansea: Narsingh comes on for Mesa, and Routledge for Bartley.
66 mins: Swansea have had some encouragement this half. Another cross from the left, from Ayew this time, curls low across the area without Abraham anticipating it.
62 mins: Mkhitaryan, who has enjoyed none of the space he needs to thrive today and is earning his first mention since the teams, sends in a shot that deflects wide. The corner is cleared.
61 mins: A chance for Swansea! They work the ball from right to left, where Carroll spears the ball into the box and Abraham heads over!
58 mins: Fer spins into space in midfield and looks up to see what options lie further forward. Abraham and Ayew are pretty much standing on each other’s toes on the edge of the penalty area, neither of them doing much moving. He picks one out, the other gets in the way, and the ball is lost.
56 mins: David de Gea touches the ball, and not from a back-pass either. It’s a cross from the left, and the goalkeeper catches it unchallenged. Still, it’s something.
55 mins: United continue to seek a second: Matic chips the ball into the penalty area, but Fabianski reaches it long before Rashford.
53 mins: Nothing much seems to have changed at the break. United still have very great dominance of possession. Swansea continue to head or boot clear most of the balls that pepper their penalty area.
49 mins: A hopeful ball towards Lukaku turns into a corner after Bartley miscues a header. This time, though, Mata can’t pick out a giant teammate.
47 mins: United play the ball between their defenders for literally two minutes, and then Blind thumps it forward and gives it away.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! It’s happening again.
The home side are back out. More action ahoy!
So Mourinho’s policy of packing his team with giant superbeings bears fruit again. Swansea defended resiliently, and threatened themselves a couple of times, but then started thinking about their half-time sit-down a few moments too soon. “At a time where there are so many Premier League defences that struggle with set pieces, Mourinho has chosen to buy a bunch of tall players and has been drilling his side on how to go about attacking set pieces. I wonder whether he will admit to taking a lesson from Big Sam,” writes Prateek Chadha.
Half time: Swansea 0-1 Manchester United
The goal was coming. And then, just in time, it came.
GOAL! Swansea 0-1 Manchester United (Bailly, 45 mins)
The corner is powerfully headed goalwards by Pogba; Fabianski fingertips it onto the bar and the ball bounces onto – but not over – the line, up again, and as it works out which way it should go next it is gleefully hammered home by Bailly!
44 mins: Of many defensive headers in this half, we’ve just seen probably the most vital. A ball from the right seemed about to drop onto Lukaku’s head, six yards out, just beyond the far post, but Fernandez stretched his neck and just flicks it clear.
42 mins: Another chance for United! They win a corner, but it’s easily headed clear at the near post. But when the ball is sent back into the area Fabianski comes out and tries and fails to catch, falls and the ball bobbles to Mata, whose first-time left-foot effort goes wide of an empty net.