And… the half-time whistle as gone! Erik ten Hag will be pretty pleased with his side’s performance while Ronaldo will be relieved to have scored his first goal of the season.
43mins: Chance for Fernandes!
38mins: Ronaldo scores for Manchester United!
Ronaldo found the back of the net for the first time this season after stepping up to take United’s penalty. He looked uncharacteristically nervous while waiting for the ref. However, he managed to bypass the goalkeeper by playing the ball down the middle.
37mins: Manchester United awarded a PENALTY after Kpozo fouled Dalot inside the box.
24mins: United earn themselves a free-kick just outside of the box on the left-hand-side. It was Rriksen who fired it into the box. However, his United team-mates couldn’t get on the end of it and the ball glanced past the far post.
22mins: United respond well by attacking down the right-hand-side of the pitch and crossing the ball into the middle of the box. However, Ronaldo couldn’t quite get on the end of it despite rising above his defender.
21mins: Chance for Sheriff! The home side did well to dispossess United in the middle of the pitch and counter. It resulted in the ball sizzling past the post. Another inch to the right and they would have had their equaliser.
19mins: Martinez’s is having a great game. His distribution has been on point for Manchester United. While Sancho will be delighted to have scored after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
16mins: GOAL FOR MANCHESTER UNITED! Jadon Sancho finds the back of the net for the Red Devils after latching onto the Eriksen’s pass and slotting the ball into the bottom right corner with his left foot.
13mins: Ronaldo is calling for a penalty after going down in the box but the ref says no and waves for play to continue.
The incident came after Martinez played a long ball over the top to Ronaldo. However, CR7 took too long to control it – allowing Kiki to get back in time and block the shot.
Ronaldo went down and called for a penalty but the ref wasn’t having any of it. Having looked at the reply… he made the right decision.
12mins: There is little excitement coming from either side at the moment. United need to pick up the intensity to make any sort of progress in this game.
10mins: Sheriff are picking up loose balls and winning the 50/50’s at the moment. It looks like they want it more than United at the moment and if the Red Devils aren’t careful, they could get caught out.
8mins: United haven’t gotten out of first gear yet. There is no real intent. They are happy for Sheriff to have the ball and they are sitting off. Not sure whether that is part of Erik ten Hag’s game plan or whether United are just being lazy
6mins: Ronaldo and Fernandes are playing fluidly – they have been seen swapping positions during United’s build-up play. Ronaldo has been dropping into midfield to try and get onto the ball more, while Fernandes has been running in behind the Sheriff defence.
4mins: Malacia fouls Ouattara to give away the first free-kick of the game. However, Sheriff do little with it and United reclaim possession.
3mins: United are making it harder than it needs to be and giving Sheriff a route into the game. Playing risky balls back to David de Gea is not the sort of style I thought United would be exhibiting and I am not sure why they are choosing to do so…
2mins: Sheriff have started well. They haven’t seen too much of the ball but they are catching United out. They are pressing high and winning ball. They are also causing United some issues with their long balls over the top – something to watch for the rest of the game.
1min: Unsurprisingly, Manchester United are dominating possession and playing the ball around with relative ease. However, I would have expected a bit more temp from the Red Devils. They had the opportunity to set the tone from the whistle.
And… just like that we are underway! United will be looking to secure a victory in their final game before the international break.
The team are out and lining up. We are just moments away from the action! Make sure you stayed tuned for all the live updates
‘I don’t think it’s that [picking the team that beat Arsenal, bar Ronaldo]. It’s about picking the best team for every game,’ Ten Hag told MUTV. ‘We have a good squad, so everyone can play. We have to win this game and we have to do well.
‘We have to do much better than last week because that was not good enough. The approach is the same if we play Liverpool, Arsenal or FC Sheriff, we are professional, it’s about how we play and what are we doing – that has to be clear.
‘I have to make the best decisions for the team.’
More to Follow…..