United’s Hojlund & Yoro Injured in 2-1 Loss to Arsenal

Striker Rasmus Hojlund and £52m new signing Leny Yoro both suffered first-half injuries as Manchester United lost their opening US tour game against Premier League rivals Arsenal 2-1 in Los Angeles.

Hojlund had given his side a 10th-minute lead when he burst onto Marcus Rashford’s first-time pass, outmuscled young defender Ayden Heaven, then beat keeper Karl Hein with a shot through his legs.

The Dane turned a low Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross wide from close range before seeming to experience a muscle injury after 15 minutes that meant he could not continue.

Yoro’s exit was equally innocuous. The 18-year-old defender, who only joined United from Lille 10 days ago, went down and needed lengthy treatment, before he too called it a day.

Given the huge number of injuries that wrecked last season for manager Erik ten Hag, to lose two senior players in such a manner fewer than three weeks before United open their new Premier League campaign against Fulham at Old Trafford on 16 August is not ideal.

“We have to wait 24 hours and then we will hopefully know more,” Ten Hag told MUTV.

“We were very careful, especially with Leny. It is disappointing he had to come off but let’s be positive and see what comes out.”

Despite the bright start, the result was not to the Dutchman’s satisfaction either.

Gabriel Jesus levelled with a close range finish after 25 minutes, which Ten Hag was certain should have been disallowed for offside, before substitute Gabriel Martinelli cut inside 17-year-old rookie full-back James Scanlon to score the winner.

United did triumph in a pre-arranged penalty shoot-out that followed, with Jadon Sancho scoring the decisive spot-kick to seal a 4-3 win.

Injury woe for Ten Hag

Ten Hag made the demands being placed on players this season a theme of his pre-match news conference, stating the campaign itself would be a “survival of the fittest” and that “it will happen” when talking of injuries.

The reality must have exceeded his worst fears as first Hojlund, then Yoro went down of their own accord.

Hojlund appeared to feel his groin before making his way straight down the tunnel. Yoro took the longer route after lengthy treatment but was walking exceptionally slowly and seemed to be in a lot of discomfort.

Victor Lindelof had also been ruled out with an injury ‘niggle’, so 20-year-old Rhys Bennett, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Stockport, took over as Harry Maguire’s defensive partner.

If injuries were the negative, the positive from the performance for Ten Hag was the performance of midfielder Mason Mount.

The former Chelsea man was one of the players who spent as much time on the treatment table as the pitch last season but in front of over 60,000 spectators, Mount probed in the manner of old and looked a genuine threat at times.

Source: BBC Sports