Man United vs. Sabah live score, stats, highlights from Champions League clash originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Manchester United begin their return to Champions League action by hosting Azerbaijani newcomers Sabah FK at Old Trafford on Thursday in their league phase opener.

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The Red Devils have not played in Europe’s top competition since they were bounced in the group stage of the 2023/24 tournament, with four defeats in six games to the likes of Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen, and Galatasaray. They were on the outside of all three UEFA tournaments last season, but returned to the Champions League field by finishing third in the Premier League.

They meet Sabah, a club which has only been in existence since 2017, and is competing in its first-ever league phase of any European competition. They are famously coached by Valdas Dambrauskas, who has gone viral for his rise to coaching prominence by working his way up after winning money on a Lithuanian game show.

The Sporting News is following the Man United vs. Sabah match live, providing score updates, commentary, and analysis.

MORE:Where are Sabah from? | How Sabah coach Dambrauskas went from game show to Champions League

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Man United vs. Sabah live score

Location: Old Trafford (Manchester, England)
Referee: Willy Delajod (FRA)

Starting lineups:

Man United (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. S. Lammens (GK) — 3. N. Mazraoui, 15. L. Yoro, 6. L. Martinez, 13. P. Dorgu — 37. K. Mainoo, 18. Y. Tielemans (Mount, 46′) — 19. B. Mbeumo, 8. B. Fernandes, 10. M. Cunha — 30. B. Sesko.

Sabah (4-2-3-1, right to left): 92. S. Pokatilov (GK) — 80. A. Zedadka, 27. T. Puchacz, 5. R. Dasdemirov, 4. A. McCarthy — 7. U. Rakhmonaliev, 13. I. Lepinjica — 21. V. Simic, 8. C. Nwachukwu, 11. K. Parris — 20. J. Mickels.

Man United vs. Sabah highlights, key incidents

This section will be updated as the match progresses, with key match events taking place and highlights becoming available.

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2nd half kickoff

4:05 p.m. — They’re back under way for the second half. Both sides will be conscious of how this game could affect their goal differential, knowing it could be important for seeding or qualification to the knockout stage.

Manchester United are making a change, with Mason Mount entering the match at the break, replacing Youri Tielemans. Red Devil fans will hope that’s not injury-related, but also very much could be simply to rest one starter and get Mount some minutes.

HALFTIME: Man United 3-0 Sabah

3:49 p.m. — Sabah, with the world up against them, have done very well for themselves in their first Champions League match. In the end, though, the task was simply too great.

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Having traveled a long way, Sabah began to tire as the first half wore on, and once Man United got the breakthrough, it was an uphill battle from there. If Joy-Lance Mickels had put away Sabah’s best chance, this game could have been much different, but Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko have put this game out of reach, and Sabah will simply want to keep their goal differential from being skewered through the second half.

45th min: GOAL! MAN UNITED!!! 3-0

3:47 p.m. — BENJAMIN SESKO ROUNDS THE GOALKEEPER AND SCORES!

Man United are well in front and running away with it as they run a vicious counter-attack against a tiring Azerbaijani side! He rounds the goalkeeper with a great touch to his left, and then finishes into the empty net just before a defender can slide in and block the effort!

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Watch Fernandes and Sesko goals in USA: