Noussair Mazraoui praises Croke Park support after Man Utd’s penalties win over Leeds

Over 80,000 fans watched the first soccer game at GAA HQ since 2009.

Manchester United's Noussair Mazraoui scores his penalty to wn the shoot-out.

Noussair Mazraoui kept his cool amid a bizarre finish to Manchester United’s pre-season friendly at Croke Park, rolling in the decisive penalty as they beat Leeds 5-4 in a shoot-out. 

The match itself came to a premature end at 1-1, with referee Neil Doyle blowing the whistle bang on 90 minutes as stewards tried to clear the pitch of selfie-hunting invaders.

Two youngsters ran on and one grabbed a picture with United skipper Bruno Fernandes, three more joined in before the game went to a shoot-out.

“You don’t want to see it but it shows the big love they have for this club,” Mazraoui said. “We’re enjoying it and the atmosphere today was amazing from the fans.” 

There was the rare sight of Fernandes missing from the spot in the shoot-out, but Mazraoui capitalised after James Justin struck the crossbar during sudden death.

United had looked much the more dangerous team in the first-half, taking the lead through Joshua Zirkzee’s 16th-minute strike, laid on by the outstanding Bryan Mbeumo who created a number of openings and twice went close himself, hitting the crossbar before the break.

Leeds equalised with their first clear chance, finished off by Brenden Aaronson after good work from Harry Wilson, but United will take confidence with more players – including Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford – being held in reserve.

Although not in the squad, Rashford joined Mainoo, Martinez and Mason Mount in watching his teammates, and could feature in a United shirt for the first time since December 2024 when they face AC Milan and former boss Ruben Amorim in Wroclaw this weekend.

“He’s our player,” Michael Carrick told ITV. “He’s come back great, just like any other player. I’ve known Marcus a long time and he gives us something a little bit different. He’s been great since he’s been back.

“He’s been back two or three days, he’s trained and it’s just pretty normal. We’re looking forward to the start of the season.” 

Having finished last season in an interim role, Michael Carrick is now installed as the permanent boss, but Mazraoui said there had been no change in his approach as they build on the momentum from the second half of last term.

“He didn’t change at all,” he said. “We’ve been playing like we did in the last half of the season and even improving that. There’s a clear idea. We know how to play and you see the improvement, even in these friendlies, some moments in the game, a lot of moments are just enjoying our football.” 

Although it ended in a shoot-out defeat, Aaronson said Leeds would take confidence from the way they competed during the 90 minutes.

“We feel great,” the American said. “It’s another great game for us. I think the pre-season we have had has been top. We need to keep going like this.”