INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Manchester United were dealt a double blow during their friendly against Arsenal with both Rasmus Højlund and Leny Yoro forced off with injuries.
Højlund and Yoro were both substituted in the first half as Arsenal beat United 2-1 in front of 62,486 fans at SoFi Stadium.
It’s the last thing manager Erik ten Hag will have wanted to see after last season was plagued by injury problems which contributed to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League.
Hojlund, having scored United’s opening goal, lasted just 13 minutes before going down with what looked like a muscle problem.
The striker, playing in his first preseason game after playing at Euro 2024 with Denmark, was able to walk off the pitch but headed straight down the tunnel.
Yoro, a £52 million summer signing from Lille, was next to pick up an injury and was substituted midway through the first half. The 18-year-old was visibly limping as he headed towards the dressing room.
Another centre-back, Victor Lindelöf, missed the game because of injury after also missing the win over Rangers ahead of the U.S. tour.
United’s mounting injury problems came just a day after Ten Hag warned that the issues which affected last season could be repeated.
“The fixture list, the load on the players is so high,” Ten Hag told a news conference on Friday.
“We are not the only team with so many injuries. Across the Premier League, many teams with a lot of injuries. We were not even the worst.
“What we had was bad luck, we had them all at the end of the season. The pressure on players is so immense and this season it’s getting even worse because of the new format in Europe. It will happen [again].”
Højlund’s goal put United ahead after 10 minutes against Arsenal after he had chased a ball from Marcus Rashford down the left.
Hojlund out-muscled 17-year-old Ayden Heaven to score through the legs of Arsenal goalkeeper Karl Hein.
Gabriel Jesus equalised after 26 minutes, tapping in a cross from the left. After both sides made a host of changes in the second half, substitute Gabriel Martinelli won it for Arsenal, cutting in from the left and beating André Onana with a low shot inside the post.