Manchester United edged to victory in their final pre-season match in front of a packed crowd in Dublin.

Juan Mata's late strike from an Anthony Martial pull-back secured the win in a game that United largely dominated.

The scoring was opened by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who capitalised on a scintillating United break after successfully defending an indirect free-kick on their own six-yard line.

Matteo Darmian's deft cross was bundled home by the determined Armenian - who probably cpuld have had more.

Dennis Praet found the net for Sampdoria, but Mata struck in time to end pre-season on a high.

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Lindelof, Smalling, Blind, Valencia, Matic, A. Pereira, Pogba, Darmian, Mkhitaryan, Lukaku.

Subs: J. Pereira, Bailly, Fosu-Mensah, Jones, Tuanzebe, Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini, McTominay, Mata, Martial, Rashford.

Manchester United player ratings

De Gea 6

Not much to do but reliable when called upon. Provided an outlet with his feet.

Lindelof 5

Almost scored an own goal as he still looks to properly find his feet with United.

Smalling 6

Got caught out by one ball over the top but otherwise solid.

Blind 5

A horrendous back pass had to be saved by De Gea - and subsequently gave away an indirect free-kick.

Valencia 6

What you see is what you get. Mr Reliable at right-back. Remains a threat going forward.

Matic 6

Fairly subdued start to life with United but doesn’t look phased by the expectations.

A. Pereira 6

Finds himself all over the pitch as he attempts to get involved. Great work rate.

Pogba 6

Little creative glimpses in patches but a rather quiet afternoon for £89m man.

Darmian 7

Could become an option for Mourinho in the left wing position. A real attacking threat and made the first goal.

Mkhitaryan 8

Could have - and should have - had a hat-trick. Ambitious on the ball and his sole mentality looks to be to score.

Lukaku 7

Strong, composed and a threat in front of goal. Unlucky not to score an ambitious curling effort.

Subs

Herrera 6 (for Pogba, 45)

His usual tenacious self and could have scored deep into the second half.

Fellaini 7 (for Pereira, 45)

A lively introduction at half-time and caused problems for Sampdoria with his strength.

Carrick 6 (for Matic, 45)

Consistency is the name of the game for Carrick and another steady performance in the middle of the park was delivered.

Mata 6 (for Mkhitaryan, 45)

Could have done better with a free-kick but looked sharp ahead of the new season.

Martial 8 (Blind, 60)

He just needs to find consistency. Taking people on, creating chances - superb 30 minute cameo.

Rashford 6 (Lukaku, 60)

Won United a free-kick with one of his darting runs forward but otherwise quiet.

Other subs used: J Pereira (De Gea, 75), Jones (Lindelof, 75), Bailly (Smalling, 75), Tuanzebe (Darmian, 75)

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Scout report: How did Matic fare on his debut?

Nemanja Matic made his Manchester United bow this evening - and had fans purring at his maiden Red Devils display.

The Serb was selected as part of a midfield three as Jose Mourinho deployed a 3-5-2 formation for United’s friendly against Sampdoria in Dublin.

Alongside Paul Pogba, he showed glimpses of being the man all United fans hoped he would be: the midfield anchor that allows Pogba to use his pace, power and guile in attacking areas.

He didn’t look as sharp as he undoubtedly will when the real stuff gets underway, but his simplicity on the ball showed a lot of promise.

Read more of Matic’s scout report here.

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5 things we learned

Manchester United won their final match of pre-season as they fought their way past Sampdoria in Dublin.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring in the first half, finishing a swift counter attack and bundling Matteo Darmian’s cross in from close range.

Dennis Praet levelled things after the break, lashing home from the edge of the area to restore parity with a clean strike.

But Juan Mata had the final say, finishing from Anthony Martial’s pull-back to give Jose Mourinho’s side another friendly victory.

Here are five things we learned in Dublin.

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FT United 2-1 Sampdoria

That’s all she wrote for pre-season!

Juan Mata’s late goal has secured what was, in theory, a comfortable win for United.

While the scoreline wasn’t too comprehensive, they were by far the better team in this one.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave United the lead before the break before Dennis Praet’s equaliser - but United were quick to respond and poke their noses ahead when it mattered.

Next stop: Macedonia for the UEFA Super Cup.

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United are really looking to finish this game at a canter.

Spaces are now appearing as they drive forward and they are pumping crosses into the box.

The defenders are dealing with them well, in fairness. Fellaini is clearly the target and they are marking him well.

GOAL! United 2-1 Sampdoria (Mata)

It all comes from Martial once again!

A jinking run down the left flank is pulled back to Mata on the edge of the box who finishes coolly.

As per the post below - if only Martial did that more consistently!

Martial with his first chance to dart down the channel and plays a lifted ball to the back post towards Herrera.

The header, however, doesn’t have much power on it and the goalkeeper is able to gather.

Great from Martial - if only he did that with a little more consistency.

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Just 15 minutes left to play in this one and not much else to report.

A host of Sampdoria substitutions just now could open up the game.

A few United subs too..

OFF: De Gea, Lindelof, Darmian, Smalling

ON: J Pereira, Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe

Marcus Rashford with a beautiful run forward and is brought down cynically on the edge of the area.

Free-kick duties go to Juan Mata, but he can’t get enough power on the effort to worry the goalkeeper.

The game has sprung into life a bit since the Sampdoria goal. Much more urgency about both teams.

GOAL! United 1-1 Sampdoria (Praet)

Sampdoria are level!

It’s a bit against the run of play as Dennis Praet smashes the ball home from 20 yards.

The United defence caught sleeping a little bit but it’s an impressive finish from the Italian’s best player.

Herrera has one ruled out for offside!

The Spaniard is just ahead of the line as Fellaini brings the ball down in the box and slides in through.

A great finish with the pressure of the onrushing goalkeeper, but it’s all in vein.

Couple of Manchester United substitutions as Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are introduced.

They replace Daley Blind and Romelu Lukaku.

Probably a slight change of shape for United now, who had been playing with three centre-backs.

Matteo Darmian now likely to drop back to the left-hand side of defence.

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Blimey, I don’t know about you, but I really want pre-season to end.

It’s pretty dull, isn’t it?

Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass... and repeat.

Not a single tackle being put in and not many shots on goal.

United are, however, doing the majority of the said passing and are looking a little more likely to create something.

Right, the intern has finally managed to work out all of Mourinho’s half-time substitutions and this is what he came back with...

OFF: Pogba, A Pereira, Matic, Mkhitaryan

ON: Herrera, Fellaini, Carrick, Mata

So, that’s all we will see from Matic tonight. A solid enough debut with plenty to work on.

Matic kicks ball into fan's face

Nemanja Matic turned what could have put a dampener on debut for Manchester United into a magic moment against Sampdoria in Dublin.

The new midfield signing from Chelsea inadvertently kicked the ball into a female fan’s face during Wednesday night’s match.

The £40 million arrival had failed to keep the ball in play and kicked the ball away in frustration.

But instead of going into the advertising hoardings it cleared the barrier and hit the supporter in Ireland.

With her friends on either side laughing hysterically, the victim had her head in her hands hands and was surely in some degree of pain.

Read more on the incident here.

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Second half underway

The teams are back out and we are back underway.

United now kicking from left to right in their red shirts as they look to build on their 1-0 advantage.

We’ll bring you news of all the substitutions shortly.

HT United 1-0 Sampdoria

That’s a wrap for the first-half.

Couple of shaky moments at the back but United have been in full control of this one and deserve their lead.

Mkhitaryan’s early strike the difference - but it could have been more in all honesty.

Matic has had a steady debut so far.

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A very hairy moment for Victor Lindelof, who almost puts the ball into his own net.

A Sampdoria free-kick was fizzed into the box from out wide and the ball just seemed to hit an out-of-shape Lindelof.

Luckily for him, it sailed just wide of David De Gea’s post.

Ooooops! Nemanja Matic is already making fans cry!

But not in the way that he probably wants to.

The midfielder couldn’t keep the ball in play and booted the ball away in frustration in the direction of the advertisement hoardings.

Unfortunately, he managed to kick it over the hoardings and straight into a female supporters’ face.

He runs over to immediately apologise, but she appeared in tears as her friends looked on with smiles on their faces.

Well, that’s one way to win his debut shirt at the end of the game...

It’s take 30 minutes but Pogba has joined the party now.

Darmian lays him up on the edge of the box and a sumptuous cross is played in the direction of Lukaku.

The striker is, unfortunately, offside but great quality from Pogba.

Sampdoria have barely had a kick.

Matic going steady so far

The early consensus on Matic is that he isn’t doing anything wrong, but he’s not pulling up trees.

Which is probably understandable, given the lack of games he has played during pre-season so far.

It’s a very friendly pre-season game, so he’s barely had to put in a challenge, so the best is very much to come from him.

A first sniff for Lukaku as he cuts inside from the right wing.

He switches the ball onto his left foot and tries to bend one into the far corner, but the fingertips of the goalkeeper deny him.

The corner comes to nothing, but a superb effort from Lukaku.

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Mkhitaryan was very, very close to his second goal of the game.

Great work from Valencia down the wing plays him in but the goalkeeper stayed strong to stop the effort.

The Armenian looks desperate to score goals!

The star of the show so far probably has to be Matteo Darmian, who has proven a great attacking threat.

Something a bit different from Jose Mourinho as he experiments despite being so close to the start of the season.

Darmian’s only thought when getting the ball is to take on his opponent and put a cross into the box - very refreshing to see.

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A little bit more promising from Sampdoria’s perspective since the goal.

A long ball over the top is met by Quagliarella, who tries to loop the ball over De Gea.

It goes a little too long and just over the bar.

For United, perhaps a little concerning on how a central knock over the top can cause a split in the centre-backs.

GOAL! United 1-0 Sampdoria (Mkhitatyan)

It looks VERY threatening indeed!

Manchester United lead through Mkhitaryan!

What a stunning counter attack from United, as they immediately break from the indirect free-kick down the left-hand side.

Darmian dinked the ball into the box and Mkhitaryan was there to finish it off with his head. Excellent stuff.

David De Gea has been pulled up for a backpass and Sampdoria have an indirect free-kick on the six yard box!

After plenty of faffing around, the free-kick is blocked and United break...

...it looks threatening

The boss is in high spirits, here. Very relaxed.

He’s got a beaming smile on his face and has been more than happy to sign autographs for fans inside of the stadium.

Let’s be honest, we all prefer a happy Jose, don’t we?

Promising start for United who look good going forward. Darmian looking lively in his attacking midfield position.

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PEEP! We are underway!

Here we go!

United’s final friendly of the summer and it comes here in Ireland.

Sampdoria get us underway, with United kicking from right to left.

Here come the teams!

Out come the two sides into the Arriva Stadium.

United wearing their traditional red shirts, while Sampdoria wear a very funky all white number.

The stadium is absolutely jam packed here. Very good showing of Irish United fans!