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Manchester United thrash Australian All Stars in friendly

July 21, 2013 12:42 IST

Danny Welbeck and Jesse Lingard both scored twice as English champions Manchester United got their first win of the David Moyes era with a 5-1 victory over an A-League All Stars team at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

Prolific forward Robin van Persie, who missed the defeat in Thailand which opened United's tour last week, added the fifth in a 28-minute cameo appearance at the end of the match to send the red-clad majority in the 83,127 crowd home happy.

With Wilfried Zaha also a constant menace down the flanks, Moyes was delighted with how his attack functioned in the absence of unsettled striker Wayne Rooney, who left the tour to receive treatment on a hamstring injury.

"It was a great night and a very special night to get my first win as Manchester United manager," said Moyes, who took over from Alex Ferguson at the end of last season.

"It was a good performance. We could have got a few more goals (but) we stepped up, I thought we looked a bit fitter tonight, a bit more ready."

The All Stars defended in depth to try to negate the pace in the United attack but also carved out a few chances of their own. Besart Berisha scored their consolation goal early in the second half.

The first United goal came in the 11th minute and was made by a neat step over the ball from Welbeck which set Lingard through on goal, the 20-year-old calmly placing the ball to the right of Ante Covic for his first goal for United.

United doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Welbeck was put clear through and the England striker, who scored just two goals for United last season, steered the ball past Covic and into the net.

Albania striker Berisha scored for the home side in the 52nd minute when he found himself free on the edge of the box and scuffed his shot inside Anders Lindegaard's right-hand post.

United struck again two minutes later, however, when the impressive Lingard dragged the ball on to his right foot and smashed it into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Van Persie came on for Ryan Giggs after 62 minutes and eight minutes later swung in the corner from which Welbeck headed in his second goal of the match.

After a raft of substitutions, the match looked to be fizzling out until Van Persie was played through in the 87th minute.

The Dutchman made a hash of his first attempt to score but when the ball came to him again on the edge of the box, he made no mistake.

"To get Robin back on and get him started was good," Moyes added. "But I think it was impressive that Danny got a couple of goals. I said to him in there: 'On another night you might have got four or five goals'."

Image: Manchester United's Jesse Lingard (R) celebrates with teammate Tom Cleverley

Photograph: Daniel Munoz/Reuters

Source: REUTERS
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