Manchester United lost their opening US tour game 2-1 in Los Angeles. But it was United’s goalkeeper who made the headlines for his energetic mind games. Onana saved ’s effort to hand United the advantage but was unable to pull off the similar heroics to deny defender Gabriel.
Even though Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1 in their pre-season friendly in Los Angeles, both teams had agreed pre-match to stage a penalty shoot-out for the crowd and Andre Onana – who had impressed over 90 minutes – enjoyed trying to psych out Arsenal’s penalty takers. The United goalkeeper’s tactics included pointing at the corner he reckoned Arsenal players’ were going to aim for. Fabio Vieira was the first to cop for Onana’s mind games but duly dispatched the ball into said corner.
However, it was Gabriel who took greater exception to Onana’s kidology. The Arsenal defender also scored his penalty and then reacted by pointing at Onana and gesturing with his hand as if to suggest the Cameroonian talks too much. United won the shoot-out 4-3, with Onana making a fine save to deny Kai Havertz.
Gabriel Magalhães telling André Onana to be quiet after hammering his penalty past him. 🤫 — Connor Humm (@TikiTakaConnor) There was no shortage of celebrities at United’s game with . Pop icon Justin Bieber was in the crowd as was the former One Direction singer Niall Horan.
Boxer Chris Eubank Jr also enjoyed the occasion as did Cruz Beckham, the youngest son of former United and England midfielder, David. If Sir Jim Ratcliffe was looking for inspiration as he weighs up whether to redevelop Old Trafford or push the button on a brand new stadium, United’s co-owner need not look much further than the stunning SoFi Stadium. Home to the LA Rams and LA Chargers NFL teams, the 70,000 capacity stadium in Inglewood missed out as the host venue for the 2026 World Cup final to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium but is a feat of modern engineering and the first indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed.
Opened in September 2020, the Infinity Screen suspended high above the pitch is the first of its kind and the largest video board in sports and weighs 2.2 million pounds. It took 38 gigantic trucks to move the Infinity Screen into the stadium, which forms the centre-piece of the near 300 acre Hollywood Park.
The stadium’s capacity is expandable to 100,000 and features 260 luxury suites, more than 13,000 premium seats, 23 elevators, 50 lifts and 2,638 doors. Adjacent to the stadium and under the same canopy is a 2.5 acre open-air plaza, American Airlines Plaza and 6,000-seat YouTube theatre.
United’s coaching group in the US includes Dave Hughes, the club’s academy lead coach. With Ten Hag’s 29-man squad comprising a dozen academy graduates, excluding established senior professionals such as and , it was felt an extra coach was required to support the development and smooth the integration of those youngsters into the senior set-up. A former defender with and Cardiff City, Hughes joined United in 2022 having previously held head of coaching roles with Cardiff and .
The Wrexham born 46-year-old was put forward for the tour role by Travis Binnion, United’s head of player development and coaching, and first team coach . One young fan who watches United home and away and all over the world with his dad got the VIP treatment after the team’s training session at UCLA’s Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Friday evening. Alex Nield, who has cerebral palsy and is a well known face to United’s players, was spotted by and taken on to the pitch in his wheelchair by the Brazil midfielder.
Retweet and like if you think is a legend 🔥 — Stretford Post (@StretfordPost) Before posing for pictures with the entire squad and chatting to Ten Hag. “What an incredible moment when Casemiro casually takes you on the pitch to meet the squad,” Nield said on Instagram..
