It was maybe not the strenuous test Sir Alex Ferguson would have wanted but, in maintaining a 100 per cent record in four games so far, at least United are heading towards their quest to land an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title in confident mood.
No-one, least of all Ferguson, will draw too many conclusions from this tour.
FC Seoul apart, United could have been given sterner opposition to start their pre-season campaign if they had gone to the far east of Manchester, rather than a part of the world that offers the greatest commercial reward.
Nevertheless, as he boarded an overnight flight to Munich, where United will compete in the Audi Cup on Wednesday and Thursday, Ferguson must have been quietly satisfied with what has been achieved over the past 10 days.
Rio Ferdinand, such a pivotal figure in United's defence, came through unscathed, which is good news given the injury problems that affected him at the back end of last season.
To lesser or greater degrees, Wes Brown, Darron Gibson, Zoran Tosic and Nani impressed, which provides Ferguson with hope that, from within last year's title-winning squad further improvement can come.
But it is the striking department where Ferguson can have the most to feel pleased about.
When he announced a couple of weeks ago that his spending for the summer was done, Ferguson created an impression of United beginning the defence of their Premier League title one forward light.
However, that may not be the case.
The youngest of the four, 17-year-old Federico Macheda, has shown plenty of confidence, as Wayne Rooney always does.
Dimitar Berbatov got off the mark in South Korea and gave his confidence another boost with a smartly-taken effort here.
The biggest plus, though, is Michael Owen. After scoring in both games in Malaysia, Owen doubled his tally with a well-taken first-half brace against a distinctly ordinary Hangzhou outfit.
In a more competitive environment an inquest would have been held into the failure of the far side assistant to raise an offside flag given Owen was never actually on-side from the moment Nani collected possession to the time United's new striker swept his team in front.
His second was a gem though, Owen taking Berbatov's pass on his chest before volleying home.
After the Bulgarian had added number two, Tosic - who had limited chance to impress after joining from Partizan Belgrade - fired home a neat third with a rising drive better keepers than Jiang Bo would have struggled to keep out.
The second-half was a procession, with Nani producing a trademark back-flip in celebration at his effort before Giggs scored twice in seven minutes, adding another near the end for good measure.
Greentown did manage a couple of consolation through Wang Hong You, although that merely added to a carnival atmosphere in which the supporters in a stadium limited to 30,000 but did not even reach that number, chanted for Wayne Rooney to score and Patrice Evra was mocked by his own team-mates after hitting the post from two yards. Tweet
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Fantastic game Berbatov best game yet by a mile looked very cool Nani excellent performance
Zoran as I have argued with those who doubted him, having watched him in the reserves will be as good as Ashavin Fabio played fantastic.
Owen great finishing Liverpool must be kicking themselves letting him pass by however he will shine at United.
Poor Anderson still can’t find the net although Giggs and Rooney did their best to set him up.
owen find himself and score again,ryan still has the flag of united,nani in his goal remember something of cristiano and berba i believe has a great season with united.1 goal and 2 assists today,great perfomance!
From this match I think Nani's perform best on the right or as back up striker. I know it's against a poor opposition but his running off the ball and understanding with Berbatov (what a surprise) was very good.
Also, I thought Berbatov look like Cantona today, the we he sets up Owen and dictate play. Overall very good game, plenty of positives except for Scholes. Scholes a legend but he's the clog today and shouldn't tackle, no matter how poor the opposition.
Great result today, albeit against weak opposition. Bring on Citeh so we'll bring them back down to earth!!! hahahaha
Great overall performance from every1 even though the AUDI cup & the friendly vs valencia will give a better indication of United's attacking ability. Berba was the best player along with Nani & tosic. I expect Berba to score 7 creat atleast 30 goals this season-that is the sum of his goals & assits will exceed 30. Owen i can think can score atleast 15 goals if he manages ot stay fit for around 30 or more matches.
Congrats Giggsy on your hat-trick. It only took you 900-odd games!
ooh,aah,berba!!!ooh,aah,berba!!the new king of old trafford!!
Great overall performance!Congrats to everyone...except Anderson n Foster who disappointed me. Anderson still can't find the net against such a weak opposition; and Foster yet again put on a shameful performance by being unable to keep a clean sheet. Evra was merely unlucky to hit the post 3 times but he put in a decent performance unlike the other two mentioned earlier. Otherwise, we are on fire upfront!!!Way to win the Premier League n the Champions League now!!!!
Danny (15:13) being satisfied with a post-Ronaldo United is quite a rarity - let's all enjoy it!
The opposition weren't too clever but we can only beat whats in front of us and the lads did it in great style. I hope all those Nani bashers take note of his performance today, if he plays in the correct position RW and given a chance to shine he will prove his worth, his interplay with the Berb was delightful to watch.
Berbatov showed great skill and awareness throughout the match with Ronaldo gone I think he'll take centre stage and prove his doubters wrong.
Giggsy - what a Star keeps defying everyone along with old father time, great to see him get his first hat-trick today.
Owen - What can you say the fox in the box we need here'shoping he can stay fit - so far so good.
Anderson - so close but yet so far. Will he ever get that elusive goal...lol
Will the Hangzhou defence please stand up!!
United looked very good but let's not get carried away, this was a poor side we beat. Some of the defending would embarrass a sunday pub team, who were still drunk from the night before. Still good to give your shooting boots some practice boys. That said, things seem to be coming along nicely for the start of the season. One or two stars look as though they could be ready to bridge that Ronaldo gap.
Not going to mention the Tevez gap as that's more of a pinhole
Brilliant result entertaining game they all impressed me.
Reading that jose mourinho thinks ciddy will win the premiership and he is just hotting it up to oust hughes and come back to englands top league and take hughes place with cash to spend.
But liverpool fans ,chelsea,arsenal and even fulham,stoke and wolves fans were laughing their socks off at his silly comments.
Berbatov was simply AWSOME!What a player.Nani was quality, what a difference a bit of confidence can make to a player.Owen was clinical.Tosic was soild just needs to play his own game by running at people than just playing safe all the time.Anderson was unlucky not to score, but it will come.Overall it was a very good performance and was very enjoyable.
I like this style of football and once Valencia and Mame who arrives in January get going we should be a joy to watch Fabio playing at right back will be keeping his brother on his toes.
I like everbody likes to win big trophies however just watching these young lads is a joy to me even without a trophy.
paul leigh........Well said. Just seen the goals on SSN and at one point nitid had 4 players unmarked in the box all calling for the ball! Some fans on here are getting carried away with that win but even my City might have scored against Greentown!
joke team but as someoen said you can only play whats put in front of you.......much sterner test next weeks in munich..... MARCA the spanish tabloid carry a story that UNITED will make an offer for DAVID SILVA next week on his return from holiday................. cant see it ..unless fergie thinks everyone else has spent up.....can see liverpool being way ahead of us if the guy is lookign to the premiership...
Zizi, Coventry - a shameful performance from Foster was it? Not too sure how you can say that when there is nothing he could have done on either of their goals. In fact, the second one originated from a rather poor pass from Wes who sold Fabio short but their forward just buried it. I admit Foster has it all to prove but how about he gets a chance to do so!
Danny, Wilmslow - I keep hearing you mentioning the striker who we have just signed from the Norwegian league. Presumably you have seen the guy play and know what he is capable of since you seem to be expecting a lot from him. That or are you just going on the usual two-penny You Tube clips?
What a fantastic footballing continent you chose, - need to sell some shirts?
Shame you did not go to Africa or North America, continents who even give the Brazilians a challenge!
Berbatov probably had the best game I've seen him have in a United shirt. Keep up the good work big lad!! Nani's having a cracking pre-season. Owen looking sharp. Tosic looks useful. Excited for the new season. Interesting to see if Valencia can get in the side at the moment.
So Karen tyler your telling us that city won't be doing the same thing in the next few years by touring the market areas of asia, america, india etc, you and me both know they will, united are already doing hence the millions of fans worldwide and the next part of the world market united will be into is india then not far behind will be city so don't deny it.
What a fantastic footballing continent you chose, - need to sell some shirts? Shame you did not go to Africa or North America, continents who even give the Brazilians a challenge!
karen tyler
26/07/2009 at 18:00
Oi tosser we have been to both places or are you so thick your mind is so tiny you have no idea whats going on .
Utd4eva:
I do agree with Danny reguarding Diouf.He does look a top prospect,6 foot 1, only 21 years old, lightning quick,strong as an ox,and a brilliant finisher.I agree that most players look good on you tube but his goal scoring record speaks for itself 38 goals in 72 games for Molde,and its only this season that hes been turned into a striker,so it makes his goalscoring look even better as he was a winger.Early days but he could be a star without a doubt.
na, not having it, citeh wouldnt beat the seven stars inn neither!
Seven Stars , Manchester
26/07/2009 at 17:06
Your City will come good it just takes time. Some City fans have got so carried away with all the hype. Now they're going into meltdown because it hasn't happened instantly. You are judged by what happens in May and there is bags of time for it to gel. What tickles me is how some have instantly dismissed United (once again). Nobody knows what is truly going to happen but I reckon United fans will have a blast finding out. It's nice to see that for the first time in years City will be there enjoying the blast too.
karen tyler, a city fan and a woman! you cant know anything, thats for sure. go away and wash the dishes my dear, your hubbys calling!