Alejandro Garnacho’s impressive highlights for Man United vs Lens emerge | OneFootball

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Alejandro Garnacho may have put himself in pole position for a starting place in the team when the Premier League kicks off next week as his highlights against RC Lens have got everyone talking.

Manchester United rounded off their pre-season with a 3-1 win against the Ligue 1 side despite a howler from new signing, Andre Onana.The club began their preparations for the 2023/24 season with wins against Leeds United, Lyon and Arsenal before suffering defeats against Wrexham, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

A mixed bag of results for Erik ten Hag's men ended with a comfortable victory over last season's runners-up in France, missing out on the title to PSG by a single point.

How did Man United overcome Lens in their final pre-season friendly?

It was a game of two halves as the French outfit kept United at bay in the opening period while striking from the blue as a loose Diogo Dalot pass was capitalised upon.

Florian Sotoca burst onto the sloppy pass in the middle of the park and fired in a shock effort in goal, catching Onana on the edge of his box. Unable to recover in time, the goalkeeper only ended up in the back of the net along with the ball as he was beaten by 40 yards on his home debut.

United failed to convert any of the opportunities they carved out in the first half of the game, with new boy Mason Mount missing a glorious opportunity.

The English midfielder failed to sort out his feet in order to grab his first goal for the club, a wait that continues on ahead of the Premier League season beginning next week.

A change in fortunes saw the hosts bring the scoreline level early in the second period with an Antony pass finding Marcus Rashford, who fired past the goalkeeper via the help of a deflection.

Within moments, the tables had been turned as Antony got himself on the scoresheet after a breathtaking counter-attack saw Garnacho slip the Brazilian in before he finished past ex-Nottingham Forest keeper, Brice Samba.

Casemiro finished the game off just before the hour mark in rather fortuitous fashion after Rashford's header struck the holding midfielder on its way into the back of the net.

Several talking points came out after the game, including the Onana blunder and the performance of Garnacho.

Alejandro Garnacho dazzles in pre-season win

Footage has emerged online of the highlights of the young Argentinian winger's performance with the opposing full-back unable to have a moment's rest.

For the huge opportunity missed by Mount in the opening period, Garnacho was the man to break through at pace and put the ball on a plate before his teammate squandered the chance.

As also mentioned before, the 19-year-old provided an assist for the eventual winner after using his explosive pace to drive at the opposing defenders before playing a perfect pass into Antony's path to slot home.

The clips from the match show that the youngster can be a brilliant outlet on the counter-attack with several long passes in behind the defence finding him in space.

From the wide positions he takes up, Garnacho is almost a throwback winger that is happy to drive at his full-back in order to take him on and get into the box.

His very first involvement in the game sees a long pass get him into a one-on-one situation with the defender, who he runs at and takes on with lightning-quick step-overs before firing in a shot that was very well blocked in the end.

There are very few occasions in which the dynamic young attacker turns back as he is always looking to take the game to the opposition with another chance created for Mount from this exact approach.

A lung-busting run from the centre of the pitch saw Garnacho carve out a shooting chance for himself, but he was unable to convert on his weaker left foot.

He even displayed a side to his game that he does not always get credit for with his pressing and work-rate helping to win the ball back for his side before driving forward and winning a free-kick 20 yards further up the pitch.

While there are many players capable of playing on the wings for the club, ten Hag has a big decision to make now, as Garnacho has really staked a claim to start against Wolves next week.

Who are Man United's attacking options?

Direct competition for the left-wing role comes in the form of Rashford, who was in sensational form when cutting inside from the left flank last season.

However, the English forward - who bagged 17 league goals in 35 matches during the 2022/23 season - is expected to start the new campaign as the centre forward with Anthony Martial currently out with an injury.

Martial is another player more than capable of being deployed on the left of the front line, but has not been asked to do so in a number of years due to injuries impacting his pace.

Previously, Jadon Sancho has played in all attacking positions, although it appears Ten Hag has plans to use him in a more central role going forward should his form improve enough to break into the starting XI. That leaves one final spanner in the works for Garnacho's prospects of starting games going forward...

Rasmus Hojlund unveiled in front of Man United fans

United announced the signing of Hojlund from Atalanta for a fee of £72 million in the build-up to the game against Lens, with the Danish forward appearing before his new home fans prior to kick-off.

Such a sizeable fee will mean the 20-year-old is likely to feature in a lot of games for the club through the middle of the attack.

Unfortunately for supporters of the Red Devils, their new star has arrived with a slight injury issue that he picked up during pre-season for his former team.

Once he returns to action, competition will hot up between Rashford and Garnacho for the starting berth on the left-hand side.

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