Two goals in two games: Sesko is the striker Manchester United’s Premier League rivals should fear

Two goals in two games. Benjamin Sesko is doing exactly what Manchester United bought him to do, and the club’s return to the Champions League made that impossible to ignore. Michael Carrick’s side put four past Sabah FK at Old Trafford, and the biggest lesson of the night had little to do with the scoreline: United are a much more effective unit when the Slovenian starts. Sabah, the champions of Azerbaijan, may well be the weakest of United’s eight league-phase opponents. But the message for the Premier League is clear.

Sesko gives Manchester United a focal point

When Benjamin Sesko starts, Manchester United have something they have lacked: a genuine number nine who pins centre-backs, holds the ball up and finishes in the box. Against Sabah FK he scored again, taking his tally to two goals in two games, and United looked more direct and more vertical as a result.

The contrast with games built around more mobile forwards is stark. Sesko gives Carrick a target for crosses and an outlet on the counter. It is no coincidence the head coach’s staff see a far more effective unit when the former RB Leipzig striker is in the starting XI.

Sabah FK: the easiest test United will face

Some perspective is needed. Sabah FK are, in all likelihood, by some distance the weakest of the eight league-phase opponents Manchester United will meet. Scoring four against the Azerbaijani champions at home says little about how United would fare against Europe’s elite or a well-drilled Premier League side.

What the game did confirm is a clearer game plan and some important lessons for Michael Carrick to absorb. Chief among them is Sesko’s central role. Far stiffer tests of United’s Champions League credentials are coming, and that is where this side will be judged.

What it means for the Premier League title race

For United’s domestic rivals, a Carrick side with a settled, scoring centre-forward is a different proposition. Premier League defences that have grown used to United attacks without a fixed reference point now have to deal with a tall striker attacking the near post and winning aerial duels.

There is also a structural shift. United look more solid at the back and quicker in transition when they have Sesko to hit. If that pattern holds through the busy autumn schedule, United’s Premier League ceiling rises considerably.

The decision facing Carrick

The question is no longer whether Sesko should start, but how to build the attack around him. Two goals in two games and a team that simply functions better with him on the pitch: the numbers and the eye test agree. What remains to be seen is whether Carrick sticks with that hierarchy when the fixtures get tougher and the biggest European nights arrive.

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