Manchester United Beat Real Salt Lake, Romelu Lukaku Nets 1st Goal with Club

Manchester United defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Monday night in a friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

Romelu Lukaku opened his United scoring account, delivering what proved to be the winning goal in the 38th minute. The club celebrated his first goal since his arrival from Everton:

Luis Silva gave Real Salt Lake a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute, finishing a great through ball by Jefferson Savarino.

Silva exited seven minutes later, as RSL manager Mike Petke subbed off his entire starting lineup. Silva, however, didn't leave until he had a few choice words with Paul Pogba, according to Top Drawer Soccer's Will Parchman:

A minute prior to Real Salt Lake's mass exodus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan delivered an equalizer for Manchester United, and Lukaku handed the Red Devils the lead shortly thereafter. The Belgian sent defender Aaron Maund and goalkeeper Lalo Fernandez to the turf with a deft right-footed touch and had a simple finish from there to put United ahead.

United played the final 23 minutes and change with only 10 players after Antonio Valencia received a red card for a challenge on Sebastian Saucedo. Valencia had swung his right foot behind Saucedo, sweeping his legs out from under him.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wasn't happy with the referee's decision, per ESPN FC's Rob Dawson:

According to Landon Southwick, the play-by-play announcer for the Real Monarchs in the United Soccer League, the referee originally offered Mourinho the opportunity to sub Valencia out of the match. When Mourinho refused to do so, he issued the red card.

Real Salt Lake couldn't capitalize on the man advantage, and United goalkeeper Sergio Romero made an impressive save in the 90th minute to preserve the victory.

Manchester United will take on rivals Manchester City on Thursday in their first match of the 2017 International Champions Cup. The event has become one of the marquee preseason tournaments in world football and annually features the top clubs on the planet.

The Red Devils will also have clashes with Real Madrid and Barcelona as part of the ICC.

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, only have a day off before they return to MLS play on the road against the Portland Timbers. It's the first time the two clubs will meet this season.