Manchester United Defeat Manchester City 2-0 in 2017 ICC Match

Manchester United earned early bragging rights over their crosstown rivals Thursday night, defeating Manchester City 2-0 in an International Champions Cup match in Houston's NRG Stadium.

Romelu Lukaku scored his second goal in as many matches to put United ahead 1-0 in the 37th minute, and Marcus Rashford doubled his club's lead two minutes later.

Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson made his debut for the club after arriving for £34.7 million from Benfica in June. The 23-year-old didn't cover himself in glory for Lukaku's opener. 

The Belgian forward got in behind the City defense as he tracked down a pass from Paul Pogba. Ederson rushed off his line and out of the 18-yard box in order to halt Lukaku, but the Belgian nodded the ball past the 'keeper. With a difficult angle to the left of goal, he fired in a left-footed shot to the far post.

ESPN's Taylor Twellman and Men in Blazers alluded to the goalkeeping problems that plagued Manchester City last year:

Ederson doesn't deserve as much blame for United's second goal, as Rashford finished off an impressive attacking move by the Red Devils. Henrikh Mkhitaryan supplied the Mancunian with a perfectly timed pass on the edge of the box. The 19-year-old took a touch before measuring a right-footed shot into the far corner, past a diving Ederson.

Seeing Lukaku and Rashford both find the back of the net naturally had some looking ahead to what the two could accomplish for Manchester United in the season ahead:

United nearly scored twice more in the second half.

In the 51st minute, Ederson made a diving save to deny what appeared to be an attempted cross from Rashford that looked destined for the top left corner. A minute later, a Lukaku shot from the top of the box caromed off the left post.

It's always a bad idea to make concrete judgments after pre-season friendlies. But at the same time, nobody would blame United supporters for getting excited about the damage Lukaku and Rashford could inflict on the rest of the Premier League. 

Last year, Manchester United scored 54 Premier League goals, 23 fewer than Arsenal, who were the closest club to them in terms of goals scored inside the top six. While United's defense allowed the second-fewest goals (29) in the Premier League, the Red Devils will need Lukaku and Rashford to spark some improvement in the attack if they're going to contend for the title.

Manchester City, likewise, will struggle to maintain a title challenge if they can't count on consistent goalkeeping. Ederson will improve, but the parallels to Claudio Bravo's struggles adapting to England were obvious for all to see.

Manchester City have a little less than a week to prepare for their next fixture. They will meet Real Madrid in Los Angeles on Wednesday in their second International Champions Cup match.

United get Madrid up next as well, with the two European giants facing off Sunday in Santa Clara, California.