Erik ten Hag thought of the Manchester weather and shrugged. “It’s no Copacabana, eh?” he said. Definitely not, but, instead of the Rio de Janeiro beach, there was a Brazilian party of sorts on the more sodden turf of Old Trafford. Antony got his first assist for Manchester United. Fred scored with a backheel flick; for half a second of his career, if no more, he looked the heir to Ronaldinho. Casemiro scored a double that, for those who remember previous flagship South American signings, brought him level with Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria on four United goals.
Three days earlier, as Lisandro Martinez had defended with characteristic verve in the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, United supporters had chorused “Argentina”. A few days later, perhaps they should have been singing the name of the other South American superpower. As Reading were beaten, all three United goals came from Brazilians, along with the first two assists. Even the other came from a native Portuguese speaker, in Bruno Fernandes. It would be an exaggeration to stay there is Samba-style in the shadow of Salford Quays when two are essentially defensive midfielders and one a winger who did not create a goal in his first 20 appearances for United.
