Manchester United secured their first Premier League win of the season with a 1-0 success over Portsmouth.
Fletcher downs Portsmouth as United claim first win
Manchester United secured their first Premier League win of the season as Sir Alex Ferguson's men defeated Portsmouth 1-0 at Fratton Park.
Darren Fletcher, on target in United's draw against Newcastle United last week, netted the only goal of the fixture in the first half to hand the visitors three points.
Pompey, who began the new campaign with a 4-0 loss at Chelsea eight days ago, threatened to open the scoring early on with Papa Bouba Diop, Peter Crouch and Younes Kaboul all going close.
However, United broke the deadlock on 32 minutes when Fletcher connected with Patrice Evra's low cross to bundle the ball past goalkeeper David James.
Ferguson's side were largely in control in the second period and, although substitute Jerome Thomas and midfielder Diop tested Edwin van der Sar with long-range efforts, the Red Devils coasted to victory.
Shock
Diop almost surprised United in the first 15 seconds. His shot from 25 yards was not far off mark - and it was doubtful whether Van der Sar would have got there had it been on target.
United, also without the suspended Nani, soon replied with Wes Brown making a run down the right and cutting the ball back for Rooney to shoot strongly on the turn but straight at David James.
Pompey were bright and lively at the start with Lassana Diarra typically busy in the midfield.
And they wanted a penalty after 13 minutes when Davis' attempt to cross from the right seemed to brush the hand of Nemanja Vidic but Referee Chris Foy waved away appeals.
Diop foolishly got himself booked five minutes later when bringing down Carlos Tevez from behind and it needed a smart save by James to hold Paul Scholes' thumping free kick from nearly 30 yards.
Just as United begun to retain possession with style Pompey forced two chances with Evra needing to get back and put Crouch off his shot after Defoe made the first opening, helped by a mis-kick from Anderson.
Then when Diarra's corner floated over Crouch as he grappled with Rio Ferdinand, a late run by Kaboul found a free header but he glanced it wide.
Moments later, though, came United's breakthrough when Evra, overlapping on the left, turned the ball across and it hit both Sol Campbell and then Fletcher before trundling towards goal beyond a stranded James.
Sylvain Distin's frantic attempt to clear on the line only sent the ball rifling in to the roof of the net - but Fletcher, United's scorer against Newcastle last Sunday, celebrated the strike.
Damage
Pompey felt hard done by and tried to repair the damage but the ever-willing Jermain Defoe hooked his shot over from short-range after Campbell went forward to cause mayhem from a Glen Johnson free kick into the area.
And it would have been a picture goal for Rooney had his low drive not sped inches wide after a breathtaking touch sold a dummy to Kaboul as he collected Brown's pass on the edge of the Pompey box.
Arsenal loanee Armand Traore took a bad tackle from Brown - who was booked - just before the break and was replaced by Jerome Thomas ten minutes into the second half.
Tevez and Rooney combined to almost set up a second United goal for Anderson who just failed to force the ball home at the far post and Pompey battled hard to respond to a range of tactical tinkering.
Thomas replaced Traore as the left wide-man and hit a blistering shot from long distance which van der Sar had to punch away.
Then Crouch, who covered acres of ground, out-jumped Brown but saw the Dutch goalkeeper comfortably field his near-post header.
And with Defoe being perpetually caught offside there was not much the home side could raise to threaten United's solid defence - except from long distance.
| Portsmouth |
Team Statistics |
Manchester United |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 4 |
Corners |
3 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71.1 |
Passing Success |
81.7 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
30 |
| 82.4 |
Tackles Success |
63.3 |
| 36.1 |
Possession |
63.9 |
| 53.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.9 |
|
