Manchester United lost their opening pre-season friendly clash against Norwegian club Rosenborg FK today via a dying-minute goal from Noah Holm. The Reds were second-best from start to finish.
Manager Erik ten Hag started some top stars like Casemiro, Mason Mount, and Marcus Rashford, but they were all hauled off at half-time without making any meaningful contributions.
Academy goalkeeper Radek Vitek was the star of the show, making a couple of excellent saves to keep United in the tie.
United also had the post to thank for not losing by more, as Rosenborg dominated proceedings at Lerkendal Stadion.
Ola Saeter had the ball in the back of United’s net in the early opening, but it was ruled out for offside. In the 20th minute, Casemiro was lucky to escape without an injury after a strong tackle from Tomas Nemcik.
Moments later, Marius Broholm hit the post before Jonny Evans rushed Jesper Reitan-Sunde into taking a hurried strike from a decent position.
Vitek produced a double save to prevent Broholm from scoring and keep Will Fish from sticking the ball in the back of his own net.
United’s best chance fell to Ethan Wheatley on 39, but his effort was tame. Broholm hit the bar and forced another save from Vitek – so did Sverre Nypan as United held on for dear life.
Rosenborg hit the bar twice in the second half and failed to convert a glorious sitter. But just when Man Utd thought they had escaped with a draw, the Norwegian team took the victory at the death.
Even though it is pre-season, United looked poor and slow. The Red Devils struggled to deal with the intensity of Rosenborg. It should be noted that the Norwegians are in the middle of their campaign.
However, Ten Hag was unhappy with the result and said (via Daily Mail), “This is not the standard for top football. A team from Man Utd should perform better.
“The result is not secondary. At Man Utd, the standard is to win games and definitely not lose games. The performance was below standard.”
