HOUSTON: Strikers Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford delivered a devastating one-two punch just before half time to carry Manchester United to a 2-0 victory over Premier League rivals Manchester City in their International Champions Cup pre-season clash here on Thursday.

Lukaku struck first at Houston’s NRG Stadium in the 37th minute with his second goal for his new club after moving to Old Trafford from Everton last week in a deal reported in the British media to be worth nearly $100 million.

The Belgian found the net with a sensational finish on the half-volley from a narrow angle which exposed the positioning of goalkeeper Ederson, who recently joined City from Benfica for around $45 million and was drawn off his line by a long clearance from Paul Pogba.

Two minutes later, Rashford took Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s pass all alone to the right of the City penalty area and placed the ball beyond Ederson to ensure the red half of Manchester prevailed in the first derby played outside England.

The strike duo gave the United faithful hopes of a more explosive attack in the upcoming season by creating numerous chances against City, who were playing their first match of the pre-season.

Lukaku missed two more tantalising opportunities early in the second half, misdirecting a header off a corner from Rashford and then rattling the frame of the goal with a rocket off his left foot.

“I couldn’t be happier with what he’s doing, and I could not be happier we managed to sign him before the pre-season,” United manager Jose Mourinho said of Lukaku.

“[He’s a] team player, who holds the ball, who waits for support, who allows the team to leave pressure zones. People look to goals and chances, I have a different perspective.”

The entertaining contest drew a crowd of more than 67,000 to NRG Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Houston Texans.

United, who have already played two games in the US against Major League Soccer clubs LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, will play another four pre-season contests against Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valerenga and Sampdoria.

“It was a very good training session,” Mourinho said. “We had to play well in the first half, is good intensity, the players are tired. I am really pleased and I’m sure Pep [Guardiola] is the same. The result is not the most important thing.”

City have games against Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United following the derby clash.

And manager Pep Guardiola meanwhile shrugged off the loss, preferring to enthuse about the performance of teenager Phil Foden, a 17-year-old who has emerged from the club’s youth set-up.

“I don’t have words... It’s a long time since I saw a performance like this — it was another level,” said Guardiola, who also confirmed that defender Aleksandar Kolarov was on his way out of the club, with AS Roma the likely destination.

“I don’t like working with people who don’t want to stay. He has a big chance to go to Roma. He has said he wants to leave,” Guardiola said of Kolarov.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2017