Luke Shaw: That's How Manchester United Are 'Expected to Play' After Cardiff Win

Luke Shaw believes Manchester United finally played as they're expected to in Saturday's 5-1 win over Cardiff City.

The win marked the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 that the Red Devils have scored five goals in a match, with interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer taking charge of his first game in the United hot seat.

Per James Robson of the Evening Standard, Shaw said: "We moved the ball quicker. The goals we scored were magnificent. Under any manager or any circumstances, that's how Man United are expected to play."

Marcus Rashford's free-kick gave United the lead after just three minutes, then Ander Herrera's deflected shot from distance made it 2-0. Victor Camarasa replied with a penalty, but Anthony Martial finished off a sublime team move to restore the Red Devils' two-goal lead by half-time.

Jesse Lingard scored with a spot-kick after the break, and then he rounded Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge to finish off an excellent United managerial debut for Solskjaer.

Shaw was happy to please the fans:

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News and football writer Liam Canning were also impressed:

The performance was a marked contrast from what United produced under Jose Mourinho. The coach was fired last week following a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, with the Red Devils having won just one of their last six Premier League games.

Despite a rocky relationship with Mourinho, Shaw will remember him for delivering the UEFA Europa League, the EFL Cup and the Community Shield in his first campaign at Old Trafford:

"It's not very nice when something as big as that happens at the club, but I think we all as players and as a team show respect in what happened.

"People might be quick to forget what Jose did for United—the three trophies he won—he did a lot.

"Obviously, one of the trophies was one we had not won before. He took us to three trophies in one season so those people need to respect him and remember what he did for not only us as a team to win those trophies, but the fans as well."

Few fans would have preferred the football Mourinho's United side played compared with the entertainment Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have delivered at Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in recent years. 

Unlike the pair, though, the Portuguese can point to silverware he delivered, whereas they're yet to win honours with their respective clubs.

He has left United a long way behind their rivals, though, and they remain 19 points off the top of the table.

Chelsea's surprise 1-0 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday has helped them make gains on the top four, but United are still eight points behind the Blues and fifth-place Arsenal.

Shaw acknowledged there is "a very long way to go" for United, but he thinks qualifying for next year's UEFA Champions League is still within reach: "We need to focus on how to catch up. Seeing the way we played today, I don't see why we can't if we keep playing like that."

United host Huddersfield Town and Bournemouth in their next two matches before a trip to Newcastle United.

If they can secure wins in each of those, they'll have a good platform on which to continue gaining on their rivals.