HOUSTON, July 28 (UPI) -- Federico Macheda scored less than 30 seconds into the contest Wednesday and Manchester United went on to rout the MLS All-Stars 5-2.
The game drew 70,728 fans to Reliant Stadium, which hosted the Super Bowl six years ago. It was the fourth-largest crowd to watch any kind of all-star game in the history of American sports.
The powerhouse from the English Premier League handed the MLS All-Stars their first regulation loss in the game's current format, although they fell to Everton in penalty kicks last year.
Macheda stole a back pass from Kevin Alston that had been intended for goalkeeper Donovan Rickets and easily scored the stunning early goal. Macheda also put a header past Rickets to give Manchester United a 2-0 halftime lead.
Darron Gibson scored on a free kick to make it 3-1 21 minutes into the second half and the other Manchester United goals came from Tom Cleverley and Javier Hernandez.
