Familiar tale for Ten Hag as Højlund and Yoro injured

‘Let’s be positive’ says manager as pair forced offin 2-1 friendly defeat to Arsenal

- Jamie Jackson

When Erik ten Hag predicted in the pre-game briefing that Manchester United could have another injury nightmare, the manager surely cannot have expected that to occur the next day, in the opening match of the team's US tour.

On 14 minutes in the game, though, he was forced to relive last season, when a total injury count of 66 was viewed as a prime factor in the club's eighth-place finish. At this juncture Rasmus Højlund, Ten Hag's star No 9, was forced off. Twenty minutes later the Dane was followed by Leny Yoro, the new £52m centre-back.

To this case of injury was added the insult of a late winner for Arsenal as Gabriel Martinelli darted across James Scanlon and beat André Onana with less than 10 minutes left.

The Gunners probably deserved the 2-1 victory as they created more chances, though neither Mikel Arteta's or Ten Hag's teams were pictures of fluidity. After this came the pre-agreed penalty shootout which ended in a 4-3 win for United, Jadon Sancho with the decisive kick.