Manchester United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deflected praise for victory at Cardiff City to the players - and Wayne Rooney.

Solskjaer is off to a perfect start as interim manager with a 5-1 thrashing of his former club Cardiff.

Marcus Rashford's stunning free-kick, a deflected effort from Ander Herrera and a fabulous team goal by Anthony Martial effectively won the contest before half-time for a United side inspired by the recalled Paul Pogba, who had a hand in all three first-half goals.

Victor Camarasa's penalty briefly gave Cardiff hope as they reduced the arrears to 2-1, but Jesse Lingard won and scored a contentious second-half penalty and then rounded Neil Etheridge to tap into an empty net at the death to make the result safe.

Solskjaer said: "Football is easy if you've got good players! They are a great bunch of players and their quality is unbelievable.

"I arrived on Wednesday night and only had Thursday and Friday with the players. Wayne Rooney texted me and gave me some advice - so it must be down to him! He told me to make them play football, enjoy themselves and be Manchester United.

"The foundation was in the defending. I thought the two centre-backs and two full-backs were brilliant."