Manchester United's pre-season campaign finally kickstarted into life a bit in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The Red Devils beat Italian giants AC Milan 9-8 in an enthralling penalty shootout, with the score 1-1 in normal time - Joel Pereira saved three penalties.

Both goals were scored within three minutes of each other as Suso cancelled out Alexis Sanchez's opening goal.

The strike from the Chilean was one of the first times on their US tour that United showed some inventive attacking play.

Juan Mata beautifully hooked the ball around the corner and Sanchez was able to beat the offside trap before cooly slotting past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

You can watch the strike below.

SANCHEZ ARRIVES IN PRE-SEASON

That really is the man we saw light up the Premier league with Arsenal.

He looked sharp throughout his 45 minutes on the pitch, excelling in a centre-forward role after Anthony Martial left the US tour to be with his pregnant partner.

And Sanchez's performance finally had United fans talking positively for a change after an indifferent summer.

They noticed that after a rest and re-energising summer, the Chilean is beginning to look like the player they hoped they'd signed in January.

Mata and Andreas Pereiria also shone in attacking midfield roles.

MAN UTD FANS REACT

Sanchez's form will be a hugely decisive factor in how successful the club are in 2018/19.

He's a match-winner, one who was beginning to show signs of chemistry with Romelu Lukaku even when he was out of form.

If the striking duo can linkup with Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and new signing Fred in the coming season, things may not look to gloomy for Jose Mourinho's side.