In a highly anticipated pre-season warm-up match in the United States on Sunday (23rd), Manchester United's new captain Carlos Vela Fernandes showed his leadership skills with a spectacular long-range shot to help his team beat last season's Premier League runners-up Arsenal 2-0. After winning all three warm-up matches without conceding a goal, the Red Devils are eagerly awaited to make their return as kings, and their performance in the new season is highly anticipated.
Previously, United won 2-0 against Leeds United and 1-0 against Lyon in warm-up matches, with Fernandes mainly on the bench. However, in the first leg of this "American tour", facing the strong Arsenal, United manager Eric Ten Hag sent out a strong lineup, and Fernandes, as the captain of the team, quickly got into shape. He took a shot from the top of the box in the 30th minute of the match, which bounced off the ground and into the net, completely shattering the defense of Arsenal's goalkeeper Lansdal. Just seven minutes later, Charles Zinzou, who has been playing as a center forward recently, scored a goal, with the winger playing the "false 9" role.
Despite Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of the U.S. Pro Stars in their last match, they started this game with only two new recruits, Deeglan Rice and Zulian Hernandez, and had a slightly mediocre performance, falling behind 0-2 at half-time.
At the end of the second half, both teams made a massive change of personnel, but United's newly signed goalkeeper Onana did not make an appearance, and the entire second half was defended by 37-year-old veteran Tom Heaton in goal. In the end, both sides failed to score again, and United continued to maintain their third consecutive victory in warm-up matches with a score of 2-0.
