Masterclass by Pogba in United stroll
PAUL POGBA settled United’s nerves on an unfamiliar artificial surface in Berne 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. The United captain then set up a third goal for Anthony Martial to seal the victory. Pogba’s contribution earned high praise from team-mate Luke Shaw, who said: ‘We know the quality Paul has and I’m sure everyone else does too. ‘For me, he’s one of the best midfielders in the world. He shows on the pitch and in the dressing room what sort of leader he is. ‘We didn’t start right but we got to grips with it and Paul came up with a bit of magic for the first goal and then he scored from the penalty, so that calmed us down a bit.’ The opener arrived in the 35th minute and owed everything to the little shimmy Pogba sold to Mohamed Camara on the edge of the box. It gave the midfielder the 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 Kevin Mbabu on the hand in the penalty box and Pogba made no mistake from the spot. The United captain also had a hand in the third goal in the 66th minute, his slick pass to Martial giving his French compatriot the chance to draw Von Ballmoos and score.