Manchester United secured their first win of the season on Monday, turning on an impressive passing display to beat Portsmouth 1-0 at Fratton Park.
Darren Fletcher got the winner, his second goal of the season, just after the half-hour mark, but United were far more impressive than the scoreline might suggest.
Portsmouth were more combative than they had been in a supine defeat to Chelsea last week, and they almost had the lead inside the opening seconds, with Pape Bouba Diop, again deployed on the right, fizzing a shot just wide.
With Carlos Tevez back after family problems in Argentina, and Anderson returning from the Olympics, United also looked far slicker then they had in their disappointing draw against Newcastle last Sunday.
Fletcher had got their only goal that day with a dart across the near post, and he did so again at Fratton Park, meeting Patrice Evra’s low cross with a touch that found its way past David James with the help of a deflection off Sol Campbell.
Rooney then almost added a spectacular second before the break, spinning on to Anderson’s pass, only for his shot from the edge of the box to squeeze a fraction wide of the post.
Diop’s effort aside, Portsmouth themselves created only one opening of note in the first half, Evra letting in Peter Crouch with a poor touch, but recovering to prevent a shot with a superb challenge.
The only concern for United, as they dominated possession, was how few clear-cut chances they created, and while Portsmouth’s threat was restricted largely to speculative long-range efforts, they were never as comfortable as they should have been.
Nemanja Vidic went close with a second-half header from a corner, and Tevez flashed a 20-yard drive just wide, but United couldn’t find a second goal that would have lifted them to third in the table. — Sapa-dpa