Sesko and Dorgu are both happy with the performance and result, with a goal and an assist respectively. Dorgu notes that they’ve conceded too many goals, so the clean sheet is good for the confidence prior to the derby.

That was a decent run-out for United. They’re good in midfield while still improving, and there are goals in their attack, but their defence is still far too easy to get at. It’ll be much harder against City at the weekend, as it will be when they travel to Atletico in their next Champions League game.

90+1 min Sabah haven’t given up, Lepinjica finding Mickels with a lovely trivela pass, and the eventuating cross is just as good, picking out Mbina, who leaps well … and thunks a header over the bar.

90 min We’ll have three additional minutes.

88 min United couldn’t really win tonight: win comfortably and they were meant to, do anything but and it’s a crisis. But they’ve managed the game fairly well, staying patient, keeping a clean sheet, and given the stage of development they’re at, another 90 is another step towards getting good.

86 min Mickels runs in behind and Lepinjica finds him, down the inside-left channel, away from Mazraoui. He lets fly, but his left-footer swings out and just past the far post.

83 min Lacey has really nice feet and isn’t shy at all, but I wonder if he’ll be physical enough for the Prem. I’m not sure he’s got the p&p to go on the outside, so perhaps he’s a 10 not a winger, but will he be able to contribute enough in midfield to play there? He’s got proper technical ability, though, so should have a decent career in the game.

82 min Lacey looks to trick his way past Puchacz, and just as it looks like he’s going by, the defender steps in to his path.

81 min Cunha gets a stud on the ball and several studs on Almeida’s shin, but it was inadvertent and not wild, so the punishment is just a free-kick.

81 min “The second half of Slavia Praha v Racing Club de Lens has been eventfl,” says Kári Tulinius. “In the 49th minute Mikulas Konecny was sent off, and he’d only come on as a substitute at half time. Nevertheless Danijel Šturm gave the home side the lead just two minutes later. They were making a good fist of holding on until Abdullah Sima equalised for the French side. The final bit of the match promises more drama.”

79 min “That’s because Hanson’s Mmmbop is Kylian Mbappe’s tune,” says Paul Howarth.

Another one I can’t believe never happened: Mané, Mané, Mané.

77 min United work well through midfield, Santos and Mount to the fore; there’s a decent chance they start together against Brighton in the League Cup next week, and I really like the way they combine. From having next to no midfield, such that Amorim put Bruno in it because he felt he had no choice – he did, he had Mainoo – they now have quality and options.

76 min Two more changes for Sabah, Du Queiroz and Almeida for Simic and Zedaka.

75 min Naturally, the corner comes to nothing. I’m not sure why, when sesko was on, United weren’t looking for him, either for near-post flick-ons or to go for goal.

74 min Zirkzee is a kind of diet Berbatov, and he shows lovely feet to wriggle between two challenges before chopping outside, narrowing his own shooting angle, and when the left-footed effort comes, it’s blocked behind for a corner.

73 min On the topic of Mbeumo, why doesn’t he have a song to this?

The Stretford End in falsetto seems an easily achievable feat.

72 min And United go Amass and Lacey for Dorgu and Mbeumo.

71 min Sabah take off Rakhmonaliev, replacing him him with Kahibulaev.

67 min Mount into Santos into Zirkzee, around the corner for mount, who’s fouled by Lepinjica; he’s booked. Free-kick United, 30 yards out.

66 min “Bodo’s final third is toothless right where the game is decided - the final 16 metres,” advises AnhTuan Nguyen Huynh. They now trail Bayern 2-0, Musiala and Kane with the goals. Except Kane’s may be chalked off for this infraction against all laws of decency.

65 min Santos and Mount combined really nicely in pre-season, for what that’s worth, two intelligent players looking to pass the ball forward.

64 min Double change for United, Santos and Zirkzee on for Mainoo and Sesko.

63 min Sabah send on Isaev for Parris, then Puchacz takes the free-kick, 30 yards out, curling left-footed over the wall … just over and just wide.

61 min Dorgu runs across the back of Parris, clipping his heels; he’s booked.

61 min Now it’s Bruno shooting from just outside the box, right-hand side; the keeper does well to cling on.

6o min United are back dominating possession, probing as they seek a fourth goal … and they almost get one, working it patiently and well before Bruno, back to goal, allows the ball to slide down the outside of his foot for Cunha, whose low shot is saves by a sprawling Pokatilov.

58 min Mount swishes a cunning pass through the lines for Mbeumo, who finds Mazraoui and takes a man away with a run outside him. So the full-back cuts inside, tries a curler for the far top corner … and gets naewhere near it

55 min United are sitting off Sabah now, conserving energy. I’m a little surprised Mainoo wasn’t withdrawn, as he’s essential to all they’re trying to do, but I doubt he completes the 90.

53 min Bruno leaps for the ball and Parris nudges him in a move known in some circles as “the Harry Kane”. One day, someone will get seriously hurt as a result of that kind of challenge, the reaction one of understandable agita.

52 min Sabah still aren’t waiting to be asked, Simic crossing and Martinez doing well to head clear. But they win a throw, hurled in by Lepinjica; United get it away.

51 min Bruno prompts on the edge after good work from Cunha, but Sesko wants too much time and intricacy, allowing Dashdamirov to intercede.

49 min Simic punches forward to Mickels, Yoro ploughing through him and not getting much, if anything, of the ball, but the ref thinks it’s fine, so doesn’t award the free-kick despite Sabah’s beseeching.

47 min United have played Dorgu so high and wide, he’s been an extra attacker, more or less, allowing Cunha to play inside. I’m not sure that’d work against better opposition, but it’s a decent option when chasing a goal.

46 min We go again.

Change for United: Tielemans is rested for the weekend, with the luckless Mount making his 38th comeback.

Change for Sabah: Mbina for Nwachukwu.

I’m returning to the same issues: United haven’t yet worked out how to control a game while playing at pace, sustaining attacks and boxing opponents while being hard to get at – something their 98-99 and 06-08 iteration did brilliantly. But structurally, they’re improving, and once Baleba is fit, they should get better at recovering high and defending channels.

Scores from elsewhere:

Our early games finished Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma and PSV 1-1 Shakhtar; our other 8pms are Bayern 0-0 Bodo/Glimt, Slavia Praha 0-0 Lens and Como 2-0 Leipzig.

United will play Roma, Bayern, Como and Leipzig.

44 min United are starting to impose their class now, and excuse me while I interrupt myself.

42 min …and again, the corner is to the back post and poorly executed, Cunha and Martinez jumping into each other’s way.

41 min Mainoo is dictating a lot of United’s play and he passes forwards to Bruno, who disguises a ball out wide, but Dorgu’s shot is blocked behind…

40 min Nice from Mbeumo, who shapes to cross then fizzes a square-pass to Bruno, 20 yards out … but his shot is well over the bar. So far, he’s not having one of his better days – nor did he at the weekend.

38 min United look pretty well-organised tonight – their shape is good and having Sesko makes that better – but their execution hasn’t been good enough.

36 min And here Sabah come again, Parris feinting to go outside Dorgu, deliberately leaving the ball behind, then going back to it and picking out Mickels at the back stick! this is a chance, but he can only bungle it wide – though, in fairness, there wasn’t much space between Lammens and the post.

33 min Tielemans drills a luscious ball out to Bruno, who kills it and goes backwards, United again prioritising keeping the ball. And then, when it again goes to Tielemans, he finds Dorgu, whose cross is behind Sesko but, back to goal, the striker hooks it goalwards … and just wide of the near post. There are more goals in United, but they should be concerned at their inability to pen Sabah in.

32 min Sabah haven’t shrunk since going behind and again, Parris cuts in, his shot blocked behind by Dorgu. The corner is well claimed by Lammens.

31 min Mazraoui has seen a lot fo the ball and he digs out a cross, of which Parris makes a mess, but Dorgu’s consequent volley is blocked.

30 min Parris again shows himself down the right, crosses low, and for a second dit looks like Mickels will have a tap-in, but Tielemans is there to make an important challenge.

29 min I wouldn’t say the goal was coming, but United had improved a bit in the five minutes preceding it, a bit more tempo and imagination in their passing.

27 min “I just noticed that Sabah have a centre back called Aden (Aidan) McCarthym” writes John Brennan. “Taking over from Thomas Delaney as the most Irish sounding non-Irishman around.”

Yup, I looked him up too – he’s Saffer.

25 min A ball into Mbeumo, who explodes on to it and inside, beating McCarthy and creating a shooting lane but, stumbling as he lets fly, it’s straight at Pokatilov.

24 min Again, the corner comes to nothing. Without Casemiro, so far this season, they’re offering no threat form set-pieces.

23 min What United have lacked so far is players beating their men. When Tielemans did it earlier, it opened things up, but they need more of it from their attackers. Meantime, though, Mainoo sweeps a lovely lofted pass forward – the kind of thing he has to do more often – picking out Bruno, unmarked on the right of the box. He’s got Sesko in the middle, but his square-ball is careless and Sabah get it behind.

21 min Mazraoui is doing a fair bit of work underlapping, and here he is again, but when the ball goes into the box, there’s too much on it for Dorgu to control his header back across.

19 min The corner is comfortably collected by Pokatilov.

18 min Martinez and Mainoo look to bait the press but Sabah sit off, in their shape and forcing United to come up with something. So it goes into Mainoo, who plays a nice pass out wide and, when Dorgu crosses, they pick up the second ball and try to pick a route through a crowded box before Bruno shoots, the ball deflected behind.

17 min Sabah attack confidently, passing through midfield, then the ball goes wide to Parris, whose speculative shot is weak and straight at Lammens.

15 min Sabah will be delighted with how this is going. United need to get closer together and move the ball faster, players following passes and breaking into the box.

14 min The first flash of Tielemans, beating two men in midfield and spreading to Dorgu, who finds Cunha down the left side of the box. He might shoot but opts to recycle, which is probably a sensible call: control, not hopeful efforts with two defenders between him and keeper.

13 min Zedaka runs at Martinez, trying to go by on the outside, but the defender is strong, making the challenge and winning a goalkick.

12 min United win another corner and again, Mbeumo goes back post; it yields another, down the left this time, against the ball goes deep, and the ref spies some kind of foul, so awards Sabah a free-kick.

10 min Mazraoui has a shot from the edge blocked, then Mbeumo squares for Bruno, who caresses a lovely one-touch pass back the way it came, and Mazraoui will shoot … wide of the near post.

9 min Mbeumo aims the corner at Martinez, who springs at the back post, but can’t get the purchase necessary to make anything happen.

8 min Mazraoui finds Cunha, outside him on the right, and his low shot is bundled behind at his near post by Pokatilov.

7 min As a team, United are trying to find the balance between attacking with intensity and staying patient; against Everton, they strayed too close to the latter.

5 min This has been a decent start from Sabah, who don’t look daunted at all and why should they? They’re a champion team playing one under pressure and, as the move it forward, Parris shimmies inside then dips out, fooling Dorgu, the ball clipping his shin and then his hand as he turns away. There are calls for a penalty, but even in Europe, no chance; the corner comes to nowt.

3 min Some of United’s passing at Everton was really sloppy, Cunha and Mbeumo the main culprits, and they’ve already given the ball away a couple of times tonight, Sesko passing it to no one. He does, though, close down the the keeper, who swallows his insides as he tries to get the ball out of his feet, just about managing to move it wide.

2 min United look to move the ball quickly but Sabah aren’t here to watch them, getting in among it. On the one hand, it increases the pressure on each pass but, on the other, it leaves gaps to hit.

1 min Away we go!

We take a moment to remember those who died and are suffering following the awful tragedy in Nepal.

If they offered odds on it, I’d be considering a few pennies on Marcus Rashford to score last – he’s a terrific sub, will almost definitely get on, and I’d expect the game-state to offer him opportunities.

Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come.

“Carrick is not given the credit he deserves,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “So many heavyweights have come and gone after SAF and few have been as quiet and as effective as Carrick. He should be given more freedom and a longer term to stabilise and deliver. They may not go far in this new Swiss scheme but their focus should be top four and constant presence in Big Cup.”

He’s fortunate in that it’s likely to be top five for the foreseeable future. Otherwise, I’d say that if United can’t make the playoffs, that’d be a failure, probably the last 16 too – he has players more than good enough for that, because though there are defensive issues, what he has should be good enough for the league stage and even if not, his attackers should be able to outscore most opposition they’ve been drawn against.

Talking of United’s firepower, it makes sense to see Sesko given a start tonight. He missed the end of last season and didn’t have a proper pre-season, so bringing him along slowly made sense.

My sense is Carrick’s inclination is two have three all-purpose attackers rather than a reference-point centre-forward, but i’m certain he knows that, though his stable contains a lot of really good attackers, the one with elite potential is the one who doesn’t necessarily fit his model.

Sesko is a phenomenal athlete, able to finish in a variety of different ways; his best hold-up play is very good though it needs polishing, and he brings useful defensive height to a relatively short outfit. However he does present issues of balance, because he needs service, and United’s wide players aren’t really into that – Mbeumo wants to score and Cunha wants to dribble and shoot. That said, Rashford’s creativity is better than he’s given credit for and seems to have improved while he was at Barca, with Tielemans’ crossing a potentially rich avenue of provision.

“It feels like there has been a certain pattern to United over the years since Fergie left in that there is usually a decent/good season usually achieving Champions League qualification followed by a drop-off the following season due to the additional games in Champions League and the defeats that usually come with that,” reckons John Brennan. “I’m thinking of 23-24 under Ten Haag, 21-22 under Solskjær and, going further back, 18-19 under Mourinho. If this pattern holds (and the results so far this season suggest that it might), I can see a draw tonight followed by a comfortable win for Man City at the weekend and all of a sudden Carrick is going to be under pressure.”

The drop-off you mention, I think, was also because after qualification was achieved, all those managers were denied the necessary funds to strengthen, because they’d achieved the board’s objective. I’ll be pretty surprised if United don’t win comfortably tonight because they’ve got so much firepower, but they could easily play well at the weekend and lose because any team in the world could play well against City and lose. At this point, of course results are crucial, but so are performances – I didn’t watch the Everton game and think United were hopeless. As I say below, they’re learning how to control a game – both Solskjær and Van Gaal fell down when they tried that, having not been backed in the market – and progress isn’t always linear. But they do seem to moving in the right direction.

It’s also worth noting that Patrick Dorgu starts at left-back tonight, for the first time under Carrick. Bought for Ruben Amorim, really he’s a specialist wing-back – not a defender because his awareness isn’t great, nor his ability to pass the ball out from the back, nor a winger because he lacks finesse and one-on-one ability – he starts at the back tonight mainly because Shaw is rested and there’s no better option. But if he’s to have a future as a starter, it feels much more likely it’ll be at the back than in attack – though, as we’ve seen he’s got a worldie in him.

Thinking more about that United defence, this is a big evening for Leny Yoro. He was pretty good in his first season at Old Trafford, but didn’t get to play much last; ultimately, Carrick couldn’t afford to risk him because he had a formula that worked – Maguire and Martinez, plus fast counters – with points to win and a job to secure.

But if United are to get properly good, they need to close the huge spaces in their midfield that come about partly because of how deep that first-choice centre-back pairing needs to defend due to its lack of pace – for defensive reasons, but also so they can squeeze up on opposing teas. Though Yoro has actually been better at left centre-back, not right, Martínez’s playmaking is perhaps the best in the world – one of the reasons United struggled for parts of the game at the weekend is because Everton forced the ball to Maguire – so he can’t really be left out.

A good game tonight won’t be enough to earn a derby spot, I don’t think, but I’m certain the plan is to upgrade on Maguire – and perhaps Martínez too. If Yoro has a good season, he can be the internal solution to solve that problem; if he doesn’t, he’ll have a problem, because United won’t be waiting.

Email! “Yes, there are reasons both emotional and mythological why United need to be in the Champions League,” concedes Matt Dony. “But there are equally emotional and mythological reasons why, to fans of other clubs, their Champions League return being on a Thursday night against a relative European minnow is objectively funny. It sort of doesn’t feel like a Champions League night. Not that that will matter one jot to the players and fans. And it shouldn’t, obviously. A club like United clearly belong here. It’s a footballing shame that they’ve been so far away for so long. I’m not convinced Carrick is the long-term solution, but I hope he enjoys an extended European adventure. (Just not too extended, obviously.)”

Of course – one of the joys of football is the opportunity to glory in ultimately meaningless misery. Carrick’s done well so far, and though there’s not been as much progress as is required out of possession, in possession they’re doing more of the right things, with Carlos Baleba still to come in. He may not be the long-term solution because almost no one is, but he might be able to take United most of the way, even if it requires someone else to finish the job. Whoever on earth that is.

The manner of Sabah’s qualification was also incredible. Get a load of this.

Sabah, by the way, are second in the Azerbaijani league with three wins from three. If you’ve not come across their manager’s story, it’s a movie; the movie Slumdog Millionaire wishes it was.

Carrick tells TNT they’ll give Sabah maximum respect. They’ve won a lot of matches, play attractive, attacking football, and they’ll be a challenge, but he’s mainly focused on United.

Shaw came off with cramp at the weekend so they opted not to take a chance on him, but they wanted freshen things up and get the balance right. He’s got a good squad and thinks this is a good team, but he didn’t want to change too much as that makes things difficult.

Though results haven’t been great, Carrick thinks United have improved from last season, with some good attacking and combination play. He wants his team to be ready from the first whistle and other scat, then off he goes.

Looking more closely at that United XI, it makes broad sense. Though I’m not sure why it’s Noussair Mazraoui not Diogo Dalot, Michael Carrick can’t afford to risk Luke Shaw, who didn’t train yesterday, given the lack of left-back alternative and derby coming on Sunday.

In the centre of defence, Leny Yoro gets a necessary start, Matheus Cunha is back on the left, and Benjamin Sesko makes his first start of the season after scoring off the bench at Everton. It’s also worth noting that Mason Mount, really impressive in pre-season playing in the midfield pivot, is on the bench having injured himself – sadly, again – though the competition for places in that position is intense.

Latest scores: Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma, PSV 1-1 Shakhtar.