Louis Van Gaal’s men faced a tougher challenge three days on from the 7-0 whitewash in Pasadena, this time they faced AS Roma, the second best team in Italy last season in the mile high city of Denver.

AS Roma came into the game after a 1-0 victory over Man Utd’s premier league counterparts Liverpool, a side that you would have expected to test Van Gaal’s men in the end however the game proved a stern test, however two mistakes pegged them back the likes of which Van Gaal will look to eradicate.

Van Gaal setup his side in the 3-5-2 formation that brought his team success in the opening game of the tour against LA Galaxy, further indicating the Dutch bosses plans ahead of the new season, however against a more stronger side Van Gaal’s men originally looked weak with Destro beating the offside trap only to fire over, he should have scored. This fragility continued but as the half wore on the defence became more resolute and more organised.

It was clear by making Cleverly captain Van Gaal was trying to restore some confidence in the young Englishman’s career, of course that won’t happen overnight and he played his role protecting the defence well, even so the passing was far from fantastic. The second half saw a more assured performance as Man Utd began to dominate the game his presence grew and he had a greater impact on the match, this was optimised by how the reds especially in midfield controlled the game. He came off in the 68th minute, far from a captain’s performance but, it’s a step in the right direction.

Both sides failed to string passes together in the early stages, mainly due to either side’s high pressure with forced one another in to countless errors and mistakes, citied by the somewhat little influence Herrera managed on the game. Following the drinks break quality began to shine through as Man Utd seemed to begin to have more of an influence on the game.

Rooney broke the deadlock in the 35th min to put Man Utd ahead with a terrific strike that nestled right in the top scorer, the potential future England captain has netted in every game so far on the tour and is in a fine vein of form. He is playing like a man who wants to be a part of Van Gaal’s plans.

Man Utd then stepped it up a gear and scored a second in a matter of minutes Wayne Rooney’s expertly hit pass putting Mata through on goal, the Spanish maestro had the audacity to pull off a beautiful chip that squeezed in the inside of the post leaving the reds two goals to the good on the verge of half time. Man Utd were then awarded a penalty on the stroke of half time allowing Wayne Rooney to score his second penalty in as many games, leaving United to go in 3 goals up.

The second half saw a whole host of changes, most notably was the arrival of Ashley Cole who made an appearance from the bench the ex-Chelsea man having recently signed for AS Roma on a costless transfer.

It became apparent that the only to breakthrough was a moment of brilliance with both sides defensively strong despite the score line and so another “moment” followed as Pjanic in the 75th minute, caught Ben Amos of his line, dipping the straddling keeper from a fair distance out; the keeper caught with his pants down. However, the keeper redeemed himself tipping Nainggolan’s effort onto the post to preserve their two goal lead. He was however unable to keep out a Totti penalty in the 87th minute after Michael Keane was adjudged to have handled in the area.

That didn’t affect the result however as Man Utd held out for a 3-2 victory that was well deserved, little bit of individual quality that would have pleased  Van Gaal and separated the two sides. The second half took the sting out of Man Utd’s attack and unsettled the defence in the second half, a half which may have troubled the Dutch coach. Yet, on the basis off the first half the philosophy is so far working for the boys in red; tougher tasks lie ahead.