The new United boss spoke of needing fresh legs before the game - understandable given his energetic brand of football - and as such made six changes to the XI that faced Ipswich Town on Sunday.
Tyrell Malacia, whose last outing for the senior side came 18 months ago, before an intense injury battle, joined Antony, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Manuel Ugarte and Rasmus Hojlund in getting their first starts in front of the new boss.
Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring inside a minute, thanks to some diligent pressure from Hojlund, but that may have lulled United into false security.