Before anyone says “WTF happened?”
Man Utd’s team cobbled together the youth brigade and a few veterans with Fabien Barthez installed as custodian in a match organized by Pascal Olmeta for his children’s charity. Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling, and Phil Jones with veterans Park Ji Sung and Patrice Evra gave a pretty decent account of themselves in the first half against an Olympique Marseilles boasting their regular starters. Welbeck and Cleverley’s goals were matched by Nicolas N’Koulou and Jordan Ayew.
Utd also sported a number of French Algerian players probably a nod to it being organized in Marseilles. There was also a David Ginola sighting. The second half Utd pulled their players and the match turned into a rout. Benoit Cheyrou and Loic Remy scored a brace, Ayew added another, and Alou Diarra rounded off the tally.
Ayew is Ghanaian legend Abedi Pele’s youngest son and the brother of midfielder Andre Ayew seen in action in the 2010 World Cup.