Manchester United resumed hostilities with arch enemies Liverpool on the weekend.
Louis van Gaal's Red Devils hosted Brendan Rodgers' Reds at Old Trafford in what was after all a good day for the home side.
United came away with a 3-1 win courtesy of a stunning debut goal from 19-year-old signing Anthony Martial.
The Frenchman came off the bench to deliver the killer blow in the 86th minute after Christian Benteke had given Liverpool some semblance of hope with a sensational bicycle kick just minutes earlier.
The scoring commenced four minutes into the second half when Daley Blind perfectly placed Juan Mata's quick free-kick past Simon Mignolet from just inside the area before Ander Herrera added a second for the Red Devils on 70 minutes when he fired home from the penalty spot after being felled in the area by Joe Gomez.
Enter Benteke who stepped for the visiting Reds, producing a dazzling overhead kick when Blind's attempted clearance fell nicely for him, but it was £36million man Martial who stole the show with a dazzling run and clever finish to give his new club all three points.
United now sit third on the table with 10 points from five matches with Liverpool slumping to 10th with a second straight defeat.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Manchester United: 3 (Daley Blind 49', Ander Herrera (PEN) 70', Anthony Martial 86')
Liverpool: 1 (Christian Benteke 84')
Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,347
TALKING POINTS
- Are Man Utd a serious contender or do they lack the quality to challenge Man City?
- Is this the start of a very fruitful career at Old Trafford for Martial?
- Where does a loss like this leave Liverpool? Is Rodgers the right man to lead the club forward?
WHAT'S NEXT?
United travel to Southampton next Sunday after they tackle PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday while Liverpool look ahead to hosting Norwich City after their trip to France to meet Bordeaux in the Europa League on Thursday.
TWITTER INSIGHT
What a game! Very proud of our team performance. Special congrats to @AnthonyMartial - is there a better way debuting for @ManUtd? #mufc
— Basti Schweinsteiger (@BSchweinsteiger) September 12, 2015Old Trafford was rocking, love it like that! Great win this evening and well done to @AnthonyMartial, debut goal #mufc
— Ashley Young (@youngy18) September 12, 2015
QUOTES CORNER
Man Utd boss van Gaal on debutant Martial:
"The goal of Anthony was not a bad goal, I think. It was also a match for him because Liverpool had to come as we were ahead. He had a lot of space, so it was easier to bring him on.
"But he did alright - he scored a marvellous goal, and I've also seen that physically he can play in the Premier League."
Liverpool's Rodgers on expected response of his team:
"I'm lucky because I've got a group that will respond - they work ever so hard, but we have to be technically better than what we've been."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
1 - Anthony Martial has scored with his first shot in the Premier League. Bargain.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 12, 20153 - Juan Mata has scored or assisted each of Man Utd's last three Premier League goals. Probe.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 12, 20153 - Manchester United scored with all three of their shots on target against Liverpool. Efficient.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 12, 2015
TEAM LEADERS
MAN UTD
Goals - Five players on 1
Assists - Juan Mata 2
Clean sheets - Sergio Romero 3
Yellow cards - Matteo Darmian 3
LIVERPOOL
Goals - Christian Benteke 2
Assists - Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson 1
Clean sheets - Simon Mignolet 3
Yellow cards - Joe Gomez 3
Red cards - Philippe Coutinho 1
