Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was without the services of several key members of his first-team squad, and handed a number of players their maiden senior appearance for the Reds.
There was a first glimpse of Donny van de Beek, our summer signing from Ajax, and Dean Henderson, back from two seasons at Sheffield United, kept goal. Young forward Anthony Elanga was one of the substitutes used during the second half to get a first taste of senior football, while fellow rookies Teden Mengi and Ethan Galbraith also got on.
It was a quiet opening in the West Midlands on Saturday, with the only real chances in the opening quarter of an hour coming via a Conor Hourihane free-kick, which blazed over, and, following fine work by Scott McTominay and van de Beek, a dangerous Daniel James cross that fizzed into the Villa box but wasn’t met by a United player.