CSKA Moscow vs Manchester United; 5 Talking Points

Score: CSKA Moscow 1 - 4 Manchester United

Goal(s) for CSKA: Konstantin Kuchaev 89' (assist Golovin)

Goal(s) for United: Lukaku 5', 27' (both assists Martial), Martial 19' (Pen - won by Mkhitaryan), Mkhitaryan 57' (off a rebound after Akinfeev saved from Martial)

Manchester United put in one of their most commanding displays of an already impressive first month and a half this season as Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku combined to immense effect and help their team quite literally 'toy' with the creaking CSKA defence to seal their place atop Group A of the Champions League.

Here are the main things we learned from the masterclass put on by the away side at the VEB Arena

#5. Nemanja Matic is the midfielder Manchester United have been looking for since Roy Keane's retirement

Matic was imperial in central midfield

Roy Keane is most well remembered for his leadership skills and sheer willpower, but as I have touched upon before it is his metronomic, intelligent, short passing game that made Manchester United the team that they were in the 90s and early 00s. They have never been truly able to replace that, until now*.

While Matic's tackling and sheer physical presence - and his defensive capabilities - are the most talked about, his superb, underrated passing has added a great deal of value to this United side. Sure, it will be the crossfield to Darmian that will stick out most, but his more routine passes were the ones that laid the foundation for United to play their expansive style of football on.

Matic, along with the criminally forgotten Ander Herrera, utterly dominated the middle of the park - they attempted 201 passes between them and pulled off 91.5% of those

Matic’s cross-field pass for Darmian #MUFC pic.twitter.com/PQKeFmAekf

— Ammad United ? ?? (@Ammadutd) September 27, 2017

*(ok, United will never, ever, truly replace Roy Keane; but this is the next best thing)

#4. CSKA Moscow fans, and their Captain, deserve better

Akinfeev, and the fans, were the best performers for CSKA

From the first peep of the referee's whistle to the last, the noise level at the VEB Arena had to be heard to be believed. Even though United took the lead in the 4th minute, and then raced to a commanding 3-0 lead within the opening half-an-hour, the CSKA fans never really lost their voice and kept singing, barechested and loud, into the cold Moscow air with a fervour and devotion that most English grounds can only dream of these days.

Their support was rewarded with a late consolation from CSKA youngster Konstantin Kuchaev - a nice little goal, at that - but their support demanded a much better performance than the sloppy, dead-in-the-water kind that their team put on for them tonight. There were far too many errors in there, and Goncharenko's men really need to get their act together before their doubleheader against Basel - the team they will most likely be competing with for second place in Group A.

The same sentiments can be evoked for Igor Akinfeev, who went his 45th game, and 11th year, without a Champions League cleansheet to his name; he may have let in four goals but none of those were his fault and it was his still-agile-as-a-flea reflexes and great goalkeeping expertise that kept the United score to single digits... such was the visiting side's dominance.

#3. Romelu Lukaku's attitude shows he's the real deal

Mourinho will be most pleased with Lukaku's attitude

Romelu Lukaku will grab all the headlines for the sheer quantity of goals he's set about amassing during the start of his Manchester United career - like his brace tonight that took his personal tally to 10 in 9 games for the Red Devils but Jose Mourinho will probably fixate on one incident that occurred sometime around the 78th minute of the game where he went one-on-one against Mario Fernandes down the right and ended up bullying the right back to win a foul. What's so special about that you ask? This was deep in United territory, almost near the corner flag, and Lukaku had tracked Fernandes' run all the way down there - while his team led 4-0 - and then had the skill to win back the ball, and win a foul to relieve what little pressure CSKA had been mounting in that attack.

This is exactly the kind of attitude for which Jose Mourinho falls in love with certain players - and Lukaku's all-round play has already made him look a perfect Mourinho signing. This could be the beginning of a long, happy, love-story!

When asked after the match how many goals he would score this season, the Big Belgian responded with a curt "I want to win trophies."

Mourinho certainly seems happy!

"They are amazing numbers for Romelu. He is humble and wants to learn and improve all the time.I think ambition is there and I trust he can keep performing for us." said the manager.

#2. Viktor Goncharenko right to trust in the CSKA Academy, but he needs to shore up his defense

CSKA need to find the right blend of experience and youth.

Konstantin Kuchaev, 19, was the one who scored the goal. Another 19-year-old Fyodor Chalov led the line admirably for the majority of the match, keeping Messrs. Smalling, Bailly and Lindelof on their toes and forcing De Gea into one particularly stunning save. Behind them, pulling the strings was assist maker 21 year old Aleksandr Golovin.

All three also happen to be graduates of the CSKA Academy.

They, along with a bunch of talented youngsters, is a major reason why CSKA did not buy anyone this summer - the only side in the Russian Premier League to not do so - and the attacking fluency of his side justified Viktor Goncharenko's decision to trust in youth, and in his club's academy.

But it is further back that this decision has failed him.

Vasili Berezutsky at 35 (his twin brother was also on the bench), and Sergei Ignasevich at 38 never really stood a chance against the pace and power of Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial, and CSKA could really do with some youth - and some much-needed pace - coming in at the centre of defence. They certainly need to spend a bit back there if they are to hope to become anything more than the makeweights that they usually are on the continental stage.

Meanwhile, Goncharenko's decision to go with a central midfield trio of Alan Dzagoev, Golovin and Pontus Wernbloom meant Wernbloom was left all by his lonesome to protect the area of the park Manchester United are strongest in.

CSKA never really stood a chance.

#1. Jose Mourinho and Manchester United show superb tactical flexibility to declare their return to the top of the pile

3 at the back, 4 at the back, 3 in the middle, 2 in the middle - it all works

When Manchester United indicated that they'd switched to a 3-4-3 formation for the traditionally tough trip to Moscow, a lot of people were worried; the pre-season had not held great portents for this formation and besides why was Mourinho try to fix something that was not just not broken but working so very well?

4 goals and a dominant 90 minutes later, we had the answer.

Because he could.

At their arrogant best, Alex Ferguson would send out his Manchester United team in any damn formation and any damn mix of personnel he deemed best to handle the opposition - regardless of what conventional wisdom might make of it - and Mourinho's matching of CSKA's formation; and beating of it; showed clearly that United are slowly but surely getting back to that level.

The back three - comprised of players unused to the system - were solid mostly while the midfield, and further upfield the forwards were simply sublime.

There's a reason everyone accepted Mourinho's self-anointed nickname of "the Special One" and the Portuguese manager seems hell-bent on reminding those of us who might have forgotten it just what the reason is.

P.S. It certainly helps when you score bucket loads of goals; Just how good have United's attacking trio been this season

United's attacking trio this season:-Lukaku:Starts - 9Goals - 10Rashford:Starts - 6Goals - 5Martial:Starts - 4Goals - 5#MUFC pic.twitter.com/r9y8l2rrei

— Everything Man Utd (@everything_utd) September 27, 2017

In a word.... WOOF!