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Summer Friendly Rewind: Man United win on penalties; Roma down Real Madrid

DarrenFletcherManUnited1-InterMilanICC2014 (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Manchester United continued their successful preseason tour in the USA with another victory, though this one came harder than the previous two.

After a scoreless 90 minutes, Man United prevailed over Inter Milan, 5-3, on penalty kicks to win their second match in the International Champions Cup in front of a crowd of 61,238 at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Despite failing to score in regulation, Man United manager Louis Van Gaal lauded his team in the post-match press conference.

“I’m very pleased,” Van Gaal said, via Goal USA. “I think we played by far the best match in our sequence of three matches, not only in ball possession of our opponent — with only one shot on goal, that was given by the referee [on a free kick] — but also we created I think six, seven chances.”

Van Gaal used the match again to test his 5-3-2 formation, with three centerbacks, two wing backs, and the pair of Ander Herrera and Darren Fletcher orchestrating the attack in midfield. For Inter, it was the first chance for Nemanja Vidic to face his old club, starting in central defense alongside Andrea Ranocchia and Juan Jesus.

Here’s a closer look at other summer friendly matches from Tuesday:

REAL MADRID FALL TO ROMA IN COTTON BOWL

Dallas provided an incredible welcome to the Real Madrid squad arriving from Los Angeles, but the team couldn’t translate the support into results on the field on Tuesday evening.

The venerable Cotton Bowl hosted Real Madrid against AS Roma and while the crowd looked to be overwhelmingly in support of the Spanish side, AS Roma ran away with a 1-0 victory to move into second place in the International Champions Cup Group A standings. The defeat for Real Madrid rules them out of ICC contention this year, after winning the competition last year.

Roma legend Francesco Totti scored the game’s only goal in the 58th minute, playing a role at the start and end of the attack. Totti dummied a pass from Seydou Keita to an open Alessandro Florenzi on the right wing. Florenzi crossed into the middle towards the late run of Totti, who finished easily.

IBRAHIMOVIC STARS AS PSG BEAT KITCHEE

Paris Saint-Germain’s preseason trip to Hong Kong has served as a way for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to extend his highlight reel.

After scoring an incredible “karate-kick” style goal in training on Monday, the Swedish international followed that up with a hat-trick in PSG’s 6-2 victory over Kitchee SC. PSG are preparing for the 2014 Trophee des Champions, which is set to take place on Saturday in Beijing, China against Guingamp, last year’s winners of the Coupe de France.

PSG were surprisingly trailing after five minutes following a header goal from Juan Belencoso but the French champions quickly tied the score in the 12th minute and went up for good in the 22nd minute through Jean-Christophe Bahebeck. Ibrahimovic scored into an empty net in the 25th minute and added a second three minutes later to make it 4-1 PSG.

Ibrahimovic headed home in the 73rd minute to cap off his hat-trick and the win for PSG.

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What did you think of Tuesday’s results? Do you like the way Man United are playing under Van Gaal? Should Real Madrid be worried about their results in preseason? Which team has impressed you the most early on?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Can’t believe no mention (or reader comment) yet about the crazy 20 plus person pitch invasion at the Roma – Madrid game! Looked ridiculously amateur.

    Reply

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