Manchester United ended their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 home defeat by relegated Cardiff City after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing struck in each half to give the Bluebirds a fine farewell from the top flight yesterday.
With nothing but pride at stake on a sunny afternoon at Old Trafford, United produced another dreadful performance which stretched their poor run to just one win from their last seven Premier League games.
Mendez-Laing opened the scoring with a 23rd-minute penalty after he was fouled by Diogo Dalot, as United, fielding half a dozen academy graduates, missed a string of chances in an action-packed first half before Josh Murphy nearly grabbed a second for Cardiff.
Murphy set up the second in the 54th minute when he weaved his way into the penalty area and delivered an inch-perfect cross to the unmarked Mendez-Laing, who tapped in from close range.
Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge then pulled off a pair of superb saves to deny Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba, either side of Bobby Reid’s rasping volley which sailed inches wide at the other end. The result, and United’s bloodless display, left little doubt that their manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces a massive job to rebuild the squad during the summer, with several of the club’s stalwarts set to leave Old Trafford.
