Manchester United lifted the Snapdragon Cup, at the stadium of the same name, after deservedly defeating Real Betis 3-2 in San Diego.
Diego Llorente’s second-half header made it a closer contest, at least in terms of the scoreline, but more importantly it was another night when the United manager was able to give invaluable game time to the vast majority of his squad.
One match now remains on Tour 2024, presented by Snapdragon – Saturday night’s showdown with our arch-rivals Liverpool in South Carolina.
Jadon Sancho seemed to have given the Reds a dream start, when he found the back of the net after five minutes. However, the winger was deemed to be offside when he received a short pass from Amad; the move had started with a ball over the top from the deep-lying Casemiro into the Ivorian’s feet.
Had United gone in front, it would have been well deserved. Instead, it was Real Betis who chalked up the opening goal with right-winger Rodri, a namesake and compatriot of the Spain and Manchester City midfielder, in the role of chief architect after a diagonal crossfield pass opened up the play.
The no.17 attacked our young left-back Harry Amass and pushed the ball past him before collecting a return pass and forcing Tom Heaton into his first save. The United keeper’s bid to retrieve the loose ball inadvertently gifted Iker Losada with a golden opportunity to tap into an unguarded net for 1-0.
Thankfully, the Reds were only behind momentarily. Amad instigated the equaliser, cutting inside at the apex of Real Betis’s box and shaping to shoot until he was grounded by a shove in the back from former Southampton defender Romain Perraud. The Frenchman pleaded his innocence but to no avail, as Rashford stepped up to confidently convert the resulting penalty. Our no.10 sent Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Silva the wrong way from the spot, tucking the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
Amass, once again catching the eye on United’s left, delivered a cross that Nobel Mendy was unable to head away, enabling Amad to smash in a terrific strike from a similar angle to where he had earned the earlier penalty.
The Reds were rampant now and when Sancho flicked on a corner from the right, Rashford was perfectly poised at the far post to present Casemiro with a tap-in for 3-1.
Some of United’s link-up play was a joy to watch, and arguably the best example preceded Scott McTominay’s deflected shot, five minutes before the break. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Amad, Sancho, Eriksen and finally Casemiro were all involved in a flowing move, full of short passes, that would surely have resulted in a fourth first-half goal had Llorente not denied McTominay with a last-ditch block.
The retention of the starting front six at the restart enabled United’s attractive play to continue and McTominay was again on the end of a well-constructed attack – this time the Scotland international was thwarted by a save from Real Betis’s substitute goalkeeper Francisco Vieites.
Rashford went down injured inside the opponents’ penalty area after Sergi Altimira planted a boot on his right ankle, as the scorer of United’s first goal threatened to accelerate past former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin. The Reds’ no.10 hobbled off the pitch, shortly before Llorente reduced United’s advantage with a free header from Rodri’s right-wing cross.
Real Betis finished the game in the ascendancy, albeit without really troubling Heaton, who saw out the full game with Andre Onana remaining rested on the bench. Pablo Garcia and Nabil Fekir may feel they could have done better than send their shots whistling just wide of the woodwork.
United’s 3-2 victory and Liverpool’s 2-1 triumph on the same night – against Arsenal in Philadelphia – sets us up nicely for our final match of Tour 2024, presented by Snapdragon, when England’s two most successful clubs meet on Saturday night in South Carolina.