Mason Mount made his Manchester United debut as Erik ten Hag’s team kicked off pre-season with a 2-0 win over Leeds United in Norway.
The £60m signing from Chelsea came close to opening the scoring with an ambitious attempt from distance early in the game. But it required second-half goals from Noam Emeran and Joe Hugill to secure victory for the Premier League club.
Under new boss Daniel Farke, Leeds did threaten on the break in the first half through Luis Sinisterra and it needed a big challenge from Hannibal to deny the Championship side. At the other end, Kristoffer Klaesson saved well from the Tunisia international.
Ten Hag removed Mount at the interval with captain Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Jadon Sancho – deployed as a striker – also among those to make way. His young Manchester United team arguably improved as the game opened up late on.
The breakthrough goal came when Norwegian midfielder Isak Hansen-Aaroen expertly threaded Emeran in down the right channel and the 20-year-old French forward opened up his body before firing left-footed past Dani van den Heuvel in the Leeds goal.
Manchester United underlined their superiority when Emeran’s angled pass into the box found Hugill in space near the penalty spot and the young forward fired home first time. It was a composed finish by the teenager. A positive start to pre-season for Ten Hag.
