POGBA IS FANTASTIC ON PLASTIC
Captain’s double teaches Boys a lesson
WHATEVER the future holds for Paul Pogba at Manchester United, the Frenchman continues to play a significant role for Jose Mourinho’s side.
With a green captain’s armband on his left bicep and pink boots on his feet, Pogba settled United’s nerves on an uncomfortable night and unfamiliar artificial surface in Bern to get their Group H campaign off to a winning start.
The 25-year-old Frenchman scored twice in the space of nine minutes at the end of a one-sided first half at the Stade de Suisse.
He then set up a third for Anthony Martial to seal United’s victory.
Pogba hasn’t always done enough to justify that £89million clubrecord transfer fee and extravagant wages since returning to Old Trafford in 2016.
But he has adopted a more commanding role this season, despite the ongoing uncertainty over his future.
Will he still be a United player if and when they reach the knockout stage? Pogba is pushing for a move to Barcelona and would happily make it in January.
But the Old Trafford hierarchy remain determined to keep hold of him and performances like this explain why.
He was the difference in what at first glance might look like a comfortable win against a Young Boys team playing at this stage for the first time.
With Juventus and Valencia the other two opponents in the group, United could ill afford to drop any points in their opening game.
In the absence of Antonio Valencia — left at home to protect his knees from the unforgiving plastic pitch — Mourinho gave £19million summer-signing Diogo Dalot his debut on the right of defence.
‘His first match last season was a big Portuguese derby, Porto versus Sporting and three days later he played at Anfield,’ said the United boss before kick-off.
‘He’s a strong personality with almost 100 caps for Portugal youth teams.’
Luke Shaw was also recalled on the left side of defence following the head injury he suffered on international duty.
Alexis Sanchez was left on the bench with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial occupying the wide positions.
United’s concerns over the pitch would not have been helped by the sight of Shaw and Fred slipping inside the opening 10 seconds on the heavily watered surface.
Young Boys looked keen to capitalise on their opponents’ discomfort as they ran at the United defence at every opportunity — the pace of Kevin Mbabu and Roger Assale a particular worry.
Maybe it is more of a psychological issue on occasions like this, but United appeared ill at ease in their surroundings during a frenetic opening 20 minutes.
Mourinho, too, looked on edge as he paced up and down the technical area with his hands behind his back.
Guillaume Hoarau gave United an early scare when he flashed a header narrowly wide from Christian Fassnacht’s cross and David de Gea was forced to tip over two long-range efforts from Mohamed Ali Camara and Fassnacht.
Dalot then slipped as he tried to block Fassnacht’s run into the box and was grateful that the Young Boys No 16 saw his effort blocked before it reached De Gea’s goal.
Pogba was also having trouble staying on his feet, but it had very little to do with the pitch and wasn’t always to the liking of German referee Deniz Aytekin.
However, the United captain settled his team’s nerves and dealt the Swiss a devastating blow with two goals in quick succession against the run of play.
The first arrived in the 35th minute and owed everything to the little shimmy Pogba sold to Camara on the edge of the box after the ball ran to him following a tackle on Fred.
It gave Pogba the vital space he needed to crack a fantastic effort with his left foot beyond David von Ballmoos and into the top corner.
That was United’s first effort on target and the second brought another goal nine minutes later when Shaw’s cross from the left hit Mbabu on the hand. Penalty. Pogba again seized the ball, as he had done on three previous occasions this season.
Twice he had converted from the spot, but the last attempt at Burnley was saved by Joe Hart.
There was no mistake this time as the Frenchman steered his penalty decisively into the top of the net to put United in command and leave the Swiss somewhat stunned.
Pogba also had a hand in the third goal in the 66th minute to kill the game off, as United launched a pacy counter attack.
His slick pass inside to Martial gave his French compatriot the chance to draw Von Ballmoos and score with a shot that the goalkeeper couldn’t quite keep out.
Job done, Pogba departed the stage to be replaced by Andreas Pereira having once again underlined his importance to this United team. YOUNG BOYS (4-4-2): Von Ballmoos 5.5; Mbabu 7, Camara 6.5, Von Bergen 6, Benito 6.5; Fassnacht 7 (Ngamaleu 65mins, 6), Sanogo 6.5, Sow 6 (Aebischer 59, 6), Sulejmani 6.5; Assale 7, Hoarau 6.5 (Nsame 75, 6).
Subs not used: Wolfli, Bertone, Schick, Garcia. Booked: Assale. Manager: Gerardo Seoane 5.5. MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3): De Gea 7; Dalot 6.5, Smalling 7, Lindelof 6.5, Shaw 7; Pogba 8 (Pereira 75, 6), Matic 6.5, Fred 6 (Fellaini 69, 6); Rashford 5.5 (Mata 69, 6), Lukaku 6, Martial 6.5. Subs not used: Romero, Bailly, Sanchez, Young. Scorer: Pogba 35, 44 pen, Martial 66. Booked: Fred. Manager: Jose Mourinho 7. Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany) 7.