Rooney's early goal for United was slick and clever. He began the move with a improvised flick, and finished it with a wholly intended, precise strike of his left foot, opening his account early in the season - a perfect time for any striker.
United controlled, as attacking players such as Nani and Young looked to cause probems down the wings as well as inside, but neither had the delivery as yet to add to the one goal already achieved.
Whilst one new signing in Ashley Young looked bright, the same could not be said for £18.5 million signing, David De Gea, in the United goal. His talents will unfortunately be called into question after another suspect performance in the net, off the back of the long range conceded goal from Edin Dzeko against City in the Community Shield.
As West Brom's new recruit from Reading, Shane Long cut inside the United area, he hit a hopeful shot from a tight angle. There was little pace in the strike, and the United defenders half turned away, with the expectation that De Gea would wrap his hands around the ball with ease.
This was not the case however, and the ball squirmed underneath his arms, as the 20 year-old failed to get down quickly enough, prompting Long and the rest of Roy Hodgson's team to wheel away in delight at their unexpected equaliser.
The goal, at 37 minutes, gave the home side a lot of confidence, and were able to get forward with more bite than before, to attempt to snatch a second goal.
Their large midfielder Somen Tchoyi used his power a number of times to hold the ball up in attacks, and got the better of the considerably smaller Fabio throughout the game, but to no avail. He came close with a swerving cross just before half time which caught De Gea slightly off guard, as he quickly corrected himself with a backwards dive to prevent another embarrassing effort fly into the top corner.
As the first half ended, all eyes were on a disappointed De Gea as he spat into his gloves and walked down the tunnel with his head down. It hadn't been the best half for him, and he will have felt responsible for the scoreline in the away dressing room during the break.
The second half saw both of Manchester United's centre half's substituted because of injuries, as Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand limped off, Ferdinand with a hamstring injury. However, with United's new recruit Phil Jones, and young defender Jonny Evans, Sir Alex has no shortage of defensive options to come on and defend strongly.
Ashley Young's contribution in the game was topped off late on with a run down the left, in which a low shot come cross deflected twice to bounce awkwardly and luckily past former United keeper Ben Foster and into the net. It was the goal that proved to be the winner.
There are a lot of positive to come out of the game for United. One being the impressive performance from Ashley Young, who was awarded the man of the match award and another being the young central midfielder Tom Cleverley putting in a solid, assured shift.
Those positives may be overlooked by the De Gea display, but make no mistakes - a win, away from home, however lucky the winner may have been is a win.
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