Manchester United in Nordic cruise as Lazio and Valencia claim pre-season wins

Manchester United got back to winning ways in a largely impressive pre-season with a 3-0 win over Valerenga in Norway on Sunday.

Arsenal retained the Emirates Cup despite losing to Sevilla, while Bournemouth were another Premier League side to lose at the hands of LaLiga opponents, as Valencia triumphed on England’s south coast.

Lazio and Schalke enjoyed impressive victories and Porto hammered Deportivo La Coruna, while Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw by Ligue 1 rivals Montpellier.

Here, we round up the pick of the pre-season action.

UNITED ON FORM IN OSLO

Manchester United responded to their 1-0 loss to Barcelona with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Valerenga.

Marouane Fellaini opened the scoring before Romelu Lukaku and young Scott McTominay netted in the second half to cap an impressive outing from Jose Mourinho’s men.

The manager later confirmed that Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic is close to securing a move to Old Trafford, to leave the travelling fans in Oslo feeling increasingly optimistic ahead of the new season.

The stuff of dreams…  #MUFC pic.twitter.com/70XYoohg7k

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 30, 2017

GUNNERS LOSE BUT RETAIN CROWN

The unusual scoring system in the Emirates Cup, where teams are awarded an extra point for each goal scored, saw Arsenal defend their title despite a 2-1 loss to Sevilla on Sunday.

Steven N’Zonzi’s wondergoal ensured Eduardo Berizzo’s men won both of their matches in the tournament, but Arsenal’s 5-2 victory over Benfica on Saturday meant Arsene Wenger’s men claimed the crown on goals scored.

Alexandre Lacazette netted his first goal at the Emirates Stadium to level the scores after Joaquin Correa had given an impressive Sevilla side the lead, but a one-goal win was not enough to dethrone tournament hosts and five-time champions Arsenal. RB Leipzig downed Benfica 2-0 in the other game in north London.

#EmiratesCup  pic.twitter.com/x2k8XjPwWz

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) July 30, 2017

LAZIO IMPRESS IN LEVERKUSEN WIN

Lazio won their third consecutive pre-season match with a 3-1 victory at Bayer Leverkusen, with Ciro Immobile bagging a double for the Serie A side.

Honours were even in the day’s other game between German and Italian opposition, as Hannover drew 1-1 with Udinese.

ORELLANA STRIKES IN CHERRIES VICTORY

Fabian Orellena scored the only goal of the game as LaLiga side Valencia ran out 1-0 winners at Premier League outfit Bournemouth.

Villarreal triumphed 3-1 in an all-Spanish clash with Levante, goals in the last 17 minutes from Manu Trigueros, Ruben Semedo and Mario Gonzalez completing a fine comeback.

Eibar went down 1-0 to Schalke, with Cote’s spectacular second-half own goal proving to be the difference between the sides, the left-back’s attempted back-pass flying over his own goalkeeper.

Special to be back at after all these years. Fans were class and more minutes in the tank…  #JD18 #AFCB pic.twitter.com/AvdjKUIqCs

— Jermain Defoe (@IAmJermainDefoe) July 30, 2017

PORTO SMASH DEPOR AS LYON ARE HELD

Deportivo La Coruna endured a dismal trip down the Atlantic coast to Porto as they lost 4-0 to the Primeira Liga side.

Vincent Aboubakar scored twice, with Jesus Corona and Moussa Marega also on the scoresheet for Sergio Conceicao’s side.

Lyon followed up their 1-0 defeat to Inter with a 1-1 draw against fellow Ligue 1 side Montpellier, with Nabil Fekir cancelling out Giovanni Sio’s opener in a match dedicated to former Montpellier president Louis Nicollin, who died last month.

There was also a 1-1 draw between Real Betis and Besiktas, with Matias Nahuel cancelling out a Dusko Tosic opener.

Finally, Stoke City and Sheffield Wednesday lost to Crewe Alexandra and Rangers respectively.