Manchester United 2 Sampdoria 1 : Matic Debuts, Mkhitaryan And Mata Do The Job, Lindelof Almost Scores OG

Serbia international Nemanja Matić made his unofficial debut as Manchester United won their sixth pre-season friendly on Wednesday night, beating Italian club Sampdoria 2-1 at Aviva Stadium (Dublin).

Prior to tonight's contest, the Red Devils defeated LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Vålerenga.

There were only nine minutes on the clock when Henrikh Mkhitaryan returned to the spotlight, thumping in a header following a swift counter attack.

On 22 minutes, the Armenian midfielder almost grabbed his second goal of the night with another header but goalkeeper Puggioni saved it, and he threatened again but his shot was off target nine minutes before half-time.

United were on top for most of the first half but the Italians were close to getting back on level terms on 42 minutes when Lindelof almost scored an own goal.

Sampdoria equalized in the 63rd minute when Praet fired past De Gea after pouncing on a loose ball from Smalling.

Juan Mata restored Manchester United's one-goal advantage with a beautiful finish after a lovely pass from Martial in the 81st minute.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : manutd.com