Manchester United's under-19s were unorganised and disjointed as they were well-beaten by Mexican side Chivas in their opening game of the Gordon Jago Super Group at the Dallas Cup in Texas.
Playing in front of a substantial crowd, Tommy Martin's Man United were far from fluent in a first-half full of errors and conceded twice in seven minutes after the restart. Jake Kenyon did snatch a goal back, but it was worth little.
The Reds looked out of sorts from the beginning, taking until after the half-hour mark to show any signs of settling into their new surroundings. The majority of the squad have never played in the United States before, with United bringing a relatively young squad, Republic of Ireland under-17s captain Lee O'Connor the youngest.
United's inexperienced showed against an energetic, physical and direct Chivas side. Martin's side did, though, start the game better than their opponents, controlling possession.
Torres six-minute double
Yet the signs of wastefulness on the ball were there. As Chivas pressurised United consistently, the Reds looked uncomfortable on the ball and after 11 minutes, Chivas broke forward. A failed tackle by Tyrell Warren, covering for right-back Matthew Olosunde, left huge space open for Chivas to move into in the penalty area. They did just that with Edson Torres netting his first of the game past Theo Richardson.
Six minutes later, Torres had a second as Chivas began to dominate the game with ease, United making mistakes every minute. Only Ethan Hamilton, Lee O'Connor and Callum Gribbin managed to hold onto the ball for some time in the first half.
It was Hamilton who began to bring United into the game, powerfully moving forward in midfield to start their first attack, spraying a ball out wide to Olosunde's whose cross wasn't met by a Red shirt in the six-yard box.
United did settle somewhat in the final stages of the first half. Gribbin combined well with Jake Kenyon on the left-flank for the one-two, breaking into the area but his shot was blocked.
Kenyon had a long-range chip headed clear by two Chivas defenders covering for their goalkeeper Rangel who had stormed out of goal to tackle Josh Bohui. Chivas broke with speed and efficiency to see a shot ricochet off the crossbar.
While United had grown into the game, they had no time to do so in the second half. Just a minute after the restart, Chivas extended their lead to three with Alejandro Zendejas, who has played for the Chivas first team, the Texas-born midfielder heading into an empty net unmarked after a Chivas corner.
Zendejas and Macias make it 4-0
Oscar Macias made it a four-goal lead just six minutes later, the same gap as between the first and second goals. Nervous, wasteful passing out from the defence from United gave Chivas the perfect chance to get that extended lead, and Macias finished past Richardson.
Kenyon did grab a goal back for United in the 55th minute as he met Bohui's cross from close-range.
The chances for Chivas didn't slow down, though, despite United's increased influence on the game. Zendejas proved a handful, forcing two basic but important saves from Richardson in the second half.
The Mexican team shut out the game in the final minutes, making a number of substitutions and playing a slower game. They deserved both their win and their big lead after an energetic and efficient start to the game.