3rd August, 2014
Ashley Young was the hero for Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United as they defeated Spanish giant Real Madrid 3-1. United defeated the European champions in front of a record US crowd of 109,318 in Michigan.
Two goals from Young and another from Javier Hernandez secured van Gaal’s fourth win of the US summer tour.
Former Tottenham star, Gareth Bale scored from the spot to give Madrid their solitary goal, even Cristiano Ronaldo’s second-half introduction could inspire Madrid against his former club.
United will now face Liverpool in Monday’s International Champions Cup final. Van Gaal has presided over wins against the Los Angles Galaxy, Roma and Inter Milan in the United States.
Madrid’s starting line-up at the Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor was without big-money summer signings in the shape of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez.
But Bale, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso all got the nod from the start, in front of the largest ever attendance for a football match in the United States.
But it was not Bale’s name that was on the lips of football fans across the globe, it was Young, an unlikely hero that stole the show. He opened the scoring after 21 minutes but Carlo Ancelotti’s Real were level six minutes later when youngster Michael Keane climbed on Bale in the area and the Wales international tucked away the resulting spot-kick.
United regained the lead on 37 minutes when Young’s cross drifted over the head of Iker Casillas. Ronaldo’s introduction against his former team with 17 minutes remaining grabbed the attention of the huge crowd, but United sealed victory moments later as Hernandez made it three.
The previous record attendance for a football match in the United States was 101,799 for the 1984 Olympic final, when France beat Brazil 2-0 at the Rose Bowl in California.