Manchester Derby in the US: Lukaku asserts his dominance, Pep faces further concerns.

The Manchester derby in the US brought encouraging signs for Jose Mourinho's team, not only in terms of the scoreline, but also highlighted many gaps that Pep Guardiola needs to address.

Compared to Man City, Jose Mourinho's team had better opportunities to prepare and fine-tune their squad, having played two matches against LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. Furthermore, Man Utd also had to prepare for their match against Real Madrid, not only in the 2017 ICC but, more importantly, in the UEFA Super Cup before the season began. Therefore, it's understandable that Jose Mourinho fielded a much stronger team than their opponents.

Positive signs emerged for Man Utd after their victory in the Manchester derby at the 2017 ICC.

Besides the two new signings Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku, Mourinho fielded a number of players who regularly featured last season, such as De Gea, Pogba, Valencia, etc. Meanwhile, Man City fielded a starting lineup that included three young players: Tosin Adarabioyo, Phil Foden, and Patrick Roberts, along with two new signings, Ederson and Walker.

A positive sign from Lukaku.

This match can be seen as a dress rehearsal for Jose Mourinho, as he fielded almost his strongest team. Mourinho's goal in this game was to help the players find their rhythm with each other, and to help the new signings integrate as quickly as possible, especially the expensive signing Romelu Lukaku.

Thanks to the two previous friendly matches, Mourinho had the opportunity to conduct certain experiments. Therefore, he considered Man City a high-stakes test to assess the current squad's level before the start of the season. Many believe that if Smalling were replaced with Eric Bailly in the starting lineup, Mourinho could immediately field this team in the Premier League.

And the players responded to Jose Mourinho's call very positively. Man Utd won 2-0 on a day when the most talked-about player, Romelu Lukaku, made a strong impression. A run past Kompany, a delicate touch to beat goalkeeper Ederson, a shot from a tight angle that flew just wide of the post before going into the net. Lukaku showed that his goal-scoring instinct hasn't faded despite the £75 million transfer fee.

Scoring in the Manchester derby, even though it was only a friendly, helped Romelu Lukaku relieve a lot of pressure.

"Lukaku's problem is that he has to overcome the pressure of his transfer fee," Gary Neville commented amidst concerns that the Belgian striker would sink at Old Trafford. Now, Lukaku is proving, to some extent, that he has the character to move on to a new chapter, a higher level in his career. Lukaku's celebration is reminiscent of his early statements at Old Trafford: "At Chelsea, Mourinho looked down on me and humiliated me; now I will humiliate him with my performances in a Manchester United shirt."

Mourinho is trying to integrate the Lukaku-Rashford-Pogba attacking trio as seamlessly as possible. With Lukaku drawing defenders away, Rashford will have more space to execute his signature bursts of speed. This trio is kept on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. Lukaku's goal was thanks to an assist from Paul Pogba, while Rashford's strike was also a quick run down the flank when the Manchester City defense was paying too much attention to Lukaku.

Pep still has a lot of work to do.

This summer, Man City spent over £100 million to sign Ederson, Kyle Walker, and Bernardo Silva. In the match against Man Utd, Pep Guardiola gave both new signings Ederson and Walker the full 90 minutes to assess their performances. Overall, the performances of both new signings did not meet Pep's expectations. Ederson has not shown superiority over Claudio Bravo, or even Joe Hart. Walker has only performed well defensively; in terms of attacking support, the English midfielder has yet to make a significant impact.

The second point worth discussing is that Man City needs another central defender. Vincent Kompany's class is undeniable, but he is 31 years old and can hardly keep up with the pace of the game in the Premier League environment as he used to. The situation where Kompany was outpaced by Lukaku illustrates this.

Pep Guardiola still has a lot of work to do after the Manchester derby in the US.

Meanwhile, the other center-back, John Stones, continued to make mistakes as before. When he came on in the second half, it was Stones who made a mistake, allowing Lukaku to curl a shot from just outside the penalty area. If the ball hadn't hit the post, Man City would have conceded a third goal.

In any case, this is only the first time the entire Man City team has come together after the summer break. Moreover, Pep Guardiola has admitted that he will bring in 3-4 more new players to Etihad this summer, so the appearance of Man City will certainly be completely different in the near future.

According to bongda24h