Manchester United vs Leeds United: Pre-Season Showdown in Dublin
The Dublin sun was slipping away, the heat still clinging to the air, and yet this felt less like a gentle pre-season warm-up and more like a touring show dropped on to Irish soil. Manchester United and Leeds United, a few hundred miles from home, went through the familiar motions of July – but with just enough edge to keep 50,000 people interested.
The early exchanges followed the script. Legs loosening, patterns rehearsed, a touch of theatre without the real jeopardy. Then Joshua Zirkzee woke everyone up.
Drifting into the box, the forward met Diogo Dalot’s drilled cross with a sharp, first-time left-foot strike that forced James Trafford into a smart low save. A warning. The next time, Trafford had no answer.
Bryan Mbeumo surged down the left, tore into the space Leeds had carelessly abandoned on their right, and picked out Zirkzee again. Same movement, same instinctive finish, different result. This time the shot flew beyond Trafford to his right and United were in front.
Leeds had been ripped apart. Jayden Bogle and Sebastiaan Bornauw were nowhere, victims of a move straight from the Carrick–Steve Holland training ground. One pass, then another, and the white shirts were gone.
Farke’s tactical switch to a 3-5-2 at half-time of last November’s 3-2 win at Manchester City is still cited as the moment Leeds’s season turned and his job was saved. The shape gives them a foothold. It can also drag them backwards.
When Bogle and Rhys Chadwick dropped too deep, the back three became a back five, and United simply poured into the gaps. Another surge from the red shirts ended with Mbeumo flashing a shot that only underlined how vulnerable Leeds looked when pinned in.
Leeds needed to push up. Ao Tanaka obliged. Two long, dipping throw-ins into the United area forced hurried clearances and, for the first time, Carrick’s side looked uncomfortable. The response from Leeds was immediate.
Tyler Fletcher tried to wriggle away in midfield, overplayed, and paid for it. Dan James nicked the ball, glanced up and flipped a pass into the area. Brenden Aaronson arrived, calm and precise, and slid his finish past Senne Lammens, who could do nothing.
The game had opened up. Mbeumo then reminded everyone why he is such a threat, unleashing a fierce drive that left Trafford beaten but rattled the crossbar, the ball cannoning away as substitutes lined up along the touchline for the inevitable second-half overhaul.
Before kick-off, Michael Carrick had already explained some of the absentees. Marcus Rashford, Lisandro Martínez and Kobbie Mainoo, he said, “aren’t quite ready yet”, with United intent on preserving them for Saturday’s meeting with Milan in Wroclaw. Mason Mount sat this one out as a precaution, Tom Heaton’s issue is still being assessed and Harry Maguire, only just back in training, was also missing.
The stadium announcer had billed the night as “historical” – the first meeting between two English clubs at this vast Dublin arena. The teamsheets told a more pragmatic story.
Carrick’s three changes at the break were not the marquee names the crowd might have hoped for. Patrick Dorgu, Andrey Santos and Mbeumo made way for Toby Collyer, Daniel Armer – an 18-year-old making his debut – and Tynan Thompson, recently signed and now given his first outing.
Daniel Farke went much further. Ten changes, with only Bornauw surviving from the first half. The risk was obvious: chaos, and a game that fell apart.
Instead, Leeds initially handled the upheaval better. Harry Wilson and Alfie Cresswell both forced Lammens into action, testing his handling and concentration. At the other end, Zirkzee, still on and still slick, wriggled into space and almost walked his way through on goal.
Then came the second wave of disruption. Carrick emptied his bench again, throwing on six more players, this time with star power: Bruno Fernandes, Youri Tielemans – the £35m summer signing – and Matheus Cunha among those introduced. United shifted into a 4-2-3-1, Fernandes at the heart, Cunha leading the line.
The effect was oddly numbing. The game sagged. For a long spell, it drifted into the kind of flat, disjointed rhythm that makes pre-season friendlies feel endless.
Eventually, the tempo flickered back. James Justin stepped in from the flank and unleashed a rising drive that Lammens beat away. Fernandes thought he had his moment, only to see a finish ruled out for offside. Later, he clipped the bar with another effort, close but not quite enough to spare everyone the lottery to come.
Penalties would decide the Boyle Sports Cup.
Before they arrived, there was a different kind of interruption. Five young fans broke through security and sprinted towards Fernandes and Tielemans, phones out, desperate for selfies. Stewards scrambled, a sixth pitch invader followed, and the incident left an uneasy note hanging over the evening. This was only a friendly, but the breach was real.
From the spot, United held their nerve. They won the shootout 5-4, with Noussair Mazraoui burying the decisive kick. No wild celebrations, just handshakes, applause and a slow walk towards the tunnel. Little in the 90 minutes or the penalties offered a clear glimpse of what either side will become when the real thing starts.
United’s pre-season record now reads: this win on penalties, a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, a 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid, a 5-0 dismantling of Rosenborg and a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham on 18 July. Leeds leave Dublin with a first loss of the summer added to their ledger: 2-0 against RB Leipzig, 4-2 versus Liverpool, 1-0 against Sunderland and that 3-2 defeat to Wrexham on 26 July.
Leeds will close out their preparations by hosting Augsburg. United head east to Poland. Last season, Carrick’s side finished third, 24 points ahead of Leeds in 14th, a gap that told its own story.
With only Tielemans and Santos through the door as major signings so far, United would quietly accept the same outcome again. Leeds, staring at another survival scrap, surely would too. The question now is whether either club has done enough this summer to make sure that’s still on the table.
