Ronaldo off the mark with penalty in Manchester United’s win over Sheriff

This was about as textbook as European away wins come and, for Manchester United, there were individual morsels of good news too. Erik ten Hag will be pleased with a third goal of the season for Jadon Sancho, who opened the scoring after a competent but blunt Sheriff Tiraspol had started well, while the clincher was notable in its own way. Cristiano Ronaldo is not used to waiting this long for his first goal of the season and a penalty before half-time was a mundane way to find it; he is now off the mark, though, and sits one short of 700 in his club career.

United now have a foothold in Group E and Ten Hag’s decision to treat Sheriff with the utmost respect, making five changes but selecting a formidable starting XI, was borne out by a professional display. Given the chasm in United’s schedule, which now gives them another two and a half weeks off, it felt a productive runout.

There was always a sense United would have to ride out an early squall. This was an opportunity for Sheriff’s young, multinational squad to put themselves in the shop window and the home side certainly had examples to draw upon. It is almost a year since the Moldovans caused shockwaves by winning at Real Madrid: none of the players who started that night did so here, some having moved on to bigger things, while the manager Yuriy Vernydub departed earlier this year to serve in his native Ukrainian army and now coaches FC Kryvbas.

So it was that Sheriff began at speed, the Burkina Faso pair Cedric Badolo and Abou Ouattara offering energy and quick feet on either side. Mouhamed Diop dipped an effort well over from range and there was plenty to enthuse the home crowd. Sheriff were obliged to host in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital; their home city lies