Sir Brown Knight's Manchester United XI career got off with a bang, as he masterminded a 4-0 demolition of FC Kiez in the first leg of their Classic League Cup tie.
The Red Devils dominated the game from the get go, but both sides went into the break with nothing between them. Realizing the need to start attacks from the back five, Sir Brown replaced 26/7 Alípio Abrantes with 25/7 Jöran Wahlman while the 19/5 second choice goalkeeper Julius Norell, making his debut in defense, was subbed off for 21/5 defender Gary Mackenzie to make his own debut for the club.
The presence of the subs clearly made the difference, and United soon started making trouble for the visitors' defense. A corner kick by star summer signing Quico Barragan allowed teenager Floyd Kay to break the deadlock ten minutes into the second half.
The wait was over. After three seasons, United finally managed to score a goal. But the party was just getting started. Having promised the fans their best ever finish to the season, the squad then proceeded to deliver their best ever start to a season.
The realization that they actually can break the deadlock gave the attackers a newfound confidence and they came acalling again. Playmaker Agaton Felixsson started a crisp one two with seasoned forward John-Erik Wall, who selflessly fed the ball into his compatriot's path for the simplest of tap-ins.
2-0! The crowd went crazy. Old Trafford came alive. Surely, this was a dream come true. The last time United were 2-0 up was back in Season 35, when they last won a match, against .Fenerbahçe. in the league.
Still, the players had tasted blood, and they had waited for this for so long that they were hungry for more. Sole survivor Olivier Tourneux went in too hard and got himself booked before United won another corner. This time, substitute Mackenzie did the honors. Some poor defending from the visitors let Kay have all the space in the world and the forward plenty of time to chest down the ball and reposition himself to complete his brace.
Frustrated at being 3-0 down to a club synonymous with failure and defeat, the visitors started playing rougher and Mackenzie had to be stretchered off the pitch. The 21 year old is expected to be out for at least 9 days, and the club might decide to cut their losses, considering the large squad they have at their disposal.
Ivan Cazangiu replaced the injured Mackenzie for the remainder of the game. The other sub, Wahlman, completed the rout with the fourth goal deep into injury time. When the dust had settled, the club had recorded their biggest ever win in the cup competition.
The visibly elated manager congratulated his team for a superb second half performance, but was quick to put in a word of caution. "It was a great second half performance. We took some time to find our rhythm, but the end result is as we expected. However, we have to keep building on this. Our opponents tonight were paper targets. Next time, we might not be so fortunate. We wasted too many chances in the first half, and we could have been punished for that."
"Another area we have to focus on is teamwork. We are a newly assembled squad and there are a few characters that don't get along right away because of their different playing styles. Our teamwork values were very low today, and that needs to be improved soon"
Asked how far he thinks his side will advance in the cup, the Indian-Malaysian replied, "We have to take this one step at a time. We haven't passed the first round yet. Remember the last time this side won a cup leg 1-0, we bowed out after losing the away leg 6-0. So we have to be very, very careful."
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