Manchester United swept past Rosenborg 5-0 to earn the first victory of Michael Carrick’s reign.
The Englishman was appointed as the club’s permanent head coach this summer after a successful second stint as caretaker manager, having taken over the reins from Ruben Amorim, who was sacked in January.
The former midfielder led his old employers to the Champions League for the first time since 2023, as they finished in third place in the Premier League table last term.
Now, he is looking to take them two places higher and win the division, and he has been backed early in the transfer market with the signings of Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, and goalkeeper Karl Darlow on a free transfer.
United suffered a 1-0 defeat by Wrexham in their opening pre-season friendly last week, with ex-academy product and former Reading striker Sam Smith notching the first and only goal in Helsinki, Finland.
Here, they were rampant against a Rosenborg side lacking in quality.
United’s first-team stars played 60 minutes as they look to build towards a full 90, but it was the youngsters on audition that lit up the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim, Norway.
Shea Lacey opened the scoring with a neat opener to put the visitors ahead at the break, and Joshua Zirkzee netted the pick of the bunch with a weaving run that ended in a nonchalant finish.
Jacob Devaney lashed in from a corner for the third, before Harry Amass stole in at the far post to make it four.
Ethan Williams prodded home from close range to cap off a better second-half display after a disjointed first period.
