Jesse Lingard ended his 28-game goal drought for Manchester United on Thursday night, but it was not enough to prevent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s youthful side falling to a 2-1 defeat against Astana.
With United having already qualified for the Europa League round of 32, Solskjaer opted to leave a host of key players back in Manchester and take an 18-man squad largely made up of teenagers.
Ethan Laird, Di’Shon Bernard and Dylan Levitt all make their debuts with starting roles, while Lee Grant – the veteran of the squad at 36 – also makes his first start in goal.
Lingard gave the visitors the perfect start, breaking the deadlock with a fine finish from the edge of the box after 10 minutes in Kazakhstan – his first goal in 307 days.
Astana, to their credit, came back strongly and through Dmitri Shomko and a Bernard own goal secured a welcome victory over the Premier League side.
More to follow…
