Some fans booed Manchester United captain Harry Maguire as the Red Devils defeated Crystal Palace 3-1 in a pre-season friendly in Melbourne.
Maguire has been named captain for the upcoming season by new manager Erik ten Hag, who intends to pair the England international in central defense with £57 million new signing Lisandro Martinez.
However, some fans in the 76,499-strong crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground expressed their displeasure during 10-man United’s victory.
Ten Hag’s team has received tremendous support in Australia, including a small number of fans who have traveled from the United Kingdom.
While it is unclear who was booing, which was loud every time Maguire touched the ball inside the first half hour, United will be concerned that it will follow them through the rest of their pre-season, which includes games in Perth on Saturday and Oslo on July 30, and then into the Premier League opener against Brighton at Old Trafford on August 7.
Some fans were critical of Maguire’s performance last season. Following a threat to his family, police conducted a security sweep of the 29-year-home in April.
Apart from the response to Maguire, there were a lot of positives from this victory for United, who improved their record to three wins in a row in preseason play and increased their goal total to 11.
Anthony Martial has scored in each of the three and benefited from Diogo Dalot’s outstanding close control and accurate first-half cross.
After the break, United added two more outstanding team goals. Jadon Sancho and Martial exchanged passes before Martial connected with Donny van de Beek, whose low cut-back Marcus Rashford guided into the far corner.
After some strong work from Rashford and Fred, Sancho received the assist from Martial. The former Borussia Dortmund attacker then ran past the Palace defense and applied a deft finish.
The way Palace scored their goal was the one glaring flaw, as United goalkeeper David de Gea, who had assumed the captaincy after Ten Hag replaced all of his outfield players, nevertheless enabled Joel Ward’s delicate downward header to get in.
Will Fish, a 19-year-old who had flown out to take Axel Tuanzebe’s place after the trip’s leg through Bangkok, was dismissed during the last round for knocking Victor Akinwale to the ground while he was the last man.