Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's son, Noah, came on for Kristiansund to make his senior debut
Tuesday 30 July 2019 23:24, UK
Manchester United made it five wins from five in pre-season as Juan Mata's stoppage time penalty sealed a 1-0 victory against Norwegian top-flight side Kristiansund BK in Oslo.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side looked set to be frustrated at the Ullevaal Stadion until Mata, who was brought down by goalkeeper Andreas Vaikla after latching onto Paul Pogba's pass, scored the late spot kick to continue United's winning run.
There was more joy for Solskjaer in Oslo as he watched his son Noah come on as a late Kristiansund substitute to make his senior debut.
United's final pre-season game takes place on Saturday against AC Milan at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff before their Premier League opener against Chelsea, live on Sky Sports on Sunday August 11 (kick-off at 4pm).
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It was a game of two goalkeepers for Manchester United as first Sean McDermott, and then substitute Serigne Mor Mbaye kept Solksjaer's side at bay for 90 minutes.
McDermott, who received a Republic of Ireland call-up in 2018, made a number of brilliant saves during the first-half to deny Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard.
But it was Scott McTominay who went closest to breaking the deadlock just before the interval when his powerful strike hit the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.
Mbaye came on to replace McDermott at the break and continued where his team-mate left off as he produced a superb one-handed stop to deny Rashford.
Solskjaer made 11 changes on the hour mark as Pogba and Mata came on alongside youngsters Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong, but they continued to be frustrated as Mbaye.
The United manager's frustration turned to pride in the 87th minute as he embraced his son Noah before he entered the field to make his senior debut for the Norwegian side.
And soon after Solskjaer was celebrating again as Mata, who was brought down in stoppage time by Kristiansund's third goalkeeper Vaikla after being played in on goal by Pogba's inch-perfect pass, scored United's winner fro the penalty spot.
Solskjaer's return to his hometown club was marred by the confirmation that defender Eric Bailly faces up to five months out following knee surgery.
Bailly suffered the injury during United's 2-1 win over Tottenham in their pre-season meeting in Shanghai last week, and Solskjaer revealed the extent of Bailly's injury after the game in Oslo.
"He's had an operation," Solskjaer said. "He'll miss the best part of four or five months. Hopefully, we'll get him back around about Christmas.
"It was positive news from the surgeon, he had the operation this morning. He was positive it was all repaired and that he'll be fine."
July 13: Perth Glory 0-2 Manchester United
July 17: Manchester United 4-0 Leeds
July 20: Manchester United 1-0 Inter Milan
July 25: Tottenham 1-2 Manchester United
July 30: Kristiansund 0-1 Manchester United
August 3: AC Milan - Principality Stadium, Cardiff