Juan Mata saves Manchester United from opening pre-season defeat | Jamie Jackson | Soccer

Pre-season opener matches are often soporific and Manchester United's 2018-1919 edition was no different.

Before a crowd of 37,660 spectators, the men of Jose Mourinho finished

The manager lined up an XI who had Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw in defense. He confirmed that it is likely back to start the season against Leicester City because of the break after the World Cup, which means that many senior players will not be available.

Mourinho said: "The line-up has the most, because the goal is to prepare them as best as possible for the start of the season because we do not have many more players than this- Valencia, Smalling, Bailly and Shaw, they are probably the ones who start the season in defense.

"There are Andreas Pereira, Herrera and Scott [McTominay in midfield] – we have Matic and Fred coming next week, so we have more solutions and [up front tonight] we have Mata, [Demitri] Mitchell, [Anthony] Martial. Sanchez arrives, but we do not have many more solutions for the start of the season. "

Martial was scooped an anticipated penalty kick denied by referee Kevin Stott, and later, the center forward of United's ignited box. Same series, Mata swept the left post of Agustin Marchesin in the closest team of the first period.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Mourinho had declared "very bad" before the season. This is partly due to the absence of Sanchez because of a visa denied, so his mood will have been improved by the expected arrival of the weekend.

The Portuguese will still be without Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelöf and Ashley Young even when De Gea, Matic and Fred follow Sanchez

This is a significant proportion of frontline players, but Mourinho should be aware that it is the same for all the rivals of the United Premier League as for their key personnel needing a vacation as a result of Russia 2018.

The 4-3-3 manager had Martial dividing Mata to the right and the pacey Mitchell left. The 21-year-old showed quick feet and joined Shaw along his side on the occasion.

Lee Grant's United debut was marked by a net save by Roger Martinez when the number 9 went through. At the end of the first half, Martial had scored a free kick late in the game, and Mourinho could be pleased with the game, despite the blush of the team.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah replaced Valencia for the second half and Joel Pereira became Grant

. Shaw is determined to impose himself as the first-choice left-back and he has imposed himself among the most alert artists. There was a brave defense head and an attacker to join the attack before it was removed later.

When Herrera yielded possession halfway, the Spaniard was grateful to see Pereira make a nice stop with one leg of Martinez. Just before the hour, the goalkeeper could not do anything to stop Henry Martin from Club America as he stood up and pbaded in front of him for the sending shot, with Antonio Lopez delivering the crossbar.

After Mourinho traded Tahith Chong and Matteo Darmian for Martial and Mitchell Shaw went from the front with a right foot effort that pbaded the wrong side of Marchesin's left post

The double substitution left Mata as a kind of fake No9, a ploy that would have allowed him to claim equalization.

Mason Greenwood, two years old, was the first player in Chong's first team, aged 18, while he came to Shaw with 14 minutes of play.

Finally, United found an answer. Chong shot in a cross, Herrera headed against the right post and Mata scrambled past Marchesin.

Manchester United: (4-3-3) Grant (Pereira J, h / t); Valencia (Fosu-Mensah, am / t), Bailly, Smalling, Shaw (Greenwood, 76); Herrera, Pereira A, McTominay (Tuanzebe, 87); Mata (Gomes, 87), Martial (Chong, 60), Mitchell (Darmian, 60)

Unused submarines: Williams, Hamilton, Garner, Bohui, Greenwood

Club Am ] rica: (4-4-2): Marchesin; Aguilar, Alvarez, Aguilera, Reyes; Ibarra, Rodriguez, Corona, Ibarguen; Martinez; Martin

Subscribers of: Arce, Lopez, Moreno, Torres, Jimenez, Leon, Garcia, Gonzalez, Zamora, Guillen

Goals: Club America – Martin (59); Manchester United – Mata (78)

Yellow: Shaw (72)

Referee: Kevin Scott