Erik ten Hag got off to a winning start as Manchester United manager as the Red Devils thrashed Liverpool 4-0 in a pre-season friendly match on Tuesday.
Jadon Sancho opened the scoring before Fred and Anthony Martial extended United’s lead against a Liverpool side that made 21 substitutions over the course of 90 minutes, including half-hour cameos for new signings Darwin Nunez and Fabio Carvalho.
Young Uruguayan Facundo Pellistri added a fourth near the end as Liverpool were made to pay for their profligacy at one end and defensive errors at the other in front of over 50,000 enthusiastic supporters in the Thai capital.
It is, of course, only the start of pre-season, with some Liverpool players literally returning from holiday in the hours before Saturday’s tour departure.
Of the starting line-ups, United’s also contained far more players expected to be involved on the opening Premier League weekend.
But still, after the torture their fans have experienced over the past 12 months, this was a blessed relief and Ten Hag was applauded by the United contingent when his face was shown on the big screen in the dying minutes.