Wayne Rooney's brilliant instinctive winner beat Swansea as Manchester United ended a run of eight games without a win.
The England striker flicked home Anthony Martial's cross with 13 minutes to go to settle a close contest.
After a dour first half, Martial had headed United in front, before Gylfi Sigurdsson's glancing effort set nerves on edge at Old Trafford.
Manchester United move up to fifth, two points behind Tottenham.
Swansea's raids forward were rare, but they twice came close to a second equaliser in injury time.
First Ashley Williams brought a good save out of David de Gea before goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski headed wide from a corner with almost the last touch of the game.
Rooney's touch of class changes mood
Swansea had won all three of their league meetings with Louis van Gaal's Manchester United - including the Dutchman's very first match in charge.
History seemed dangerously close to being repeated for the home fans when Sigurdsson - the matchwinner in Van Gaal's United debut - steered home Modou Barrow's cross with 20 minutes to go.
Rooney's afternoon up to that point had been full of industry but short on inspiration. However, United's captain improvised brilliantly to flick Martial's cross round his standing leg and into the far corner past a rooted Fabianski for the winner.
As well as delivering three points for his team, the strike gave Rooney sole possession of second place on the all-time goalscoring lists of the Premier League - on 188, 72 behind Alan Shearer - and Manchester United - on 238, 11 behind Sir Bobby Charlton.
Width + crosses = goals
The home fans' relief was palpable on the final whistle as Manchester United secured their first win since beating Watford away on 21 November.
However, the half-time whistle had mostly been greeted with a bemused silence after a toothless first-half performance.
The one consistent source of danger for the hosts was right-winger Ashley Young. His pace and trickery gave Neil Taylor a testing afternoon and his consistently accurate delivery into the box was rewarded when Martial met a cross with a powerful header just after half-time.
The winner also came from the flanks as Martial drifted wide to turn provider for Rooney.
Fabianski almost provides stunning climax
Since losing his first match in charge across the city at Etihad Stadium last month, caretaker boss Alan Curtis had overseen three successive clean sheets to keep Swansea clear of the relegation zone.
And having kept United at bay for large spells in a tight and tidy performance, their discipline was almost rewarded in extraordinary style when Fabianski climbed highest after coming up for the final corner of the match and sent a header just wide.
Man of the match - Ashley Young
Manager reaction
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal: "I am very happy for the players because they had to play under big pressure and now we have won. We are still near the top of the league and the gap is less. So that's football.
"That's a season. A season takes eight months or something like that and not one month.
"I think we played a very risky system against Swansea because they had a shape with four midfielders in a diamond.
"I hope this is a fantastic starting point for us in the New Year and we can continue against Sheffield United."
Swansea caretaker boss Alan Curtis:"Funnily enough, Lukasz Fabianski had asked a couple of minutes earlier to go up for a similar situation. I told him to stay back. I wish I'd asked him to go up earlier.
"We had to get back into the game. We were comfortable with the midfield diamond when it was 0-0, but once we went behind, we had to change things, so we put two wingers on to get back into it.
"We grew into the game after that, and we were unlucky not to get something."
Stats you need to know
- Rooney ended a run of 553 minutes without a goal for the club.
- Manchester United have now failed to score in their last nine first halves at Old Trafford. The last player to score a first half goal at Old Trafford in all competitions was Juan Mata v Wolfsburg in September.
- Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored twice and assisted twice in his last four league games versus Manchester United.
What's next?
Manchester United face Sheffield United in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, before a trip to Newcastle on Tuesday, 12 January in their next league outing. Swansea travel to Oxford in the FA Cup on Sunday, before playing Sunderland in a potentially vital match on the following Wednesday.
LINEUP, BOOKINGS (3) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6)
Manchester United
- 01 de Gea
- 18 Young (McNair - 78' )
- 04 Jones (Darmian - 45' )
- 12 Smalling Booked
- 17 Blind Booked
- 28 Schneiderlin
- 31 Schweinsteiger
- 08 Mata
- 21 Herrera (Carrick - 91' )
- 09 Martial
- 10 Rooney
Substitutes
- 07 Depay
- 16 Carrick
- 20 Romero
- 27 Fellaini
- 33 McNair
- 36 Darmian
- 44 Pereira
Swansea City
- 01 Fabianski
- 22 Rangel Booked
- 33 Fernandez
- 06 Williams
- 03 Taylor
- 24 Cork
- 07 Britton (Barrow - 62' )
- 04 Ki Sung-yueng
- 15 Routledge (Montero - 82' )
- 10 Ayew (Gomis - 82' )
- 23 Sigurdsson
Substitutes
- 02 Amat
- 13 Nordfeldt
- 18 Gomis
- 20 Montero
- 21 Grimes
- 26 Naughton
- 58 Barrow
Ref: Jonathan Moss
Att: 75,415
The Red Devils picked up all three points for the first time since November despite a late scare when goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski headed wide
Wayne Rooney scored a superb winner as Manchester United ended their Swansea Cityhoodoo with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford on Saturday to ease some of the pressure on manager Louis van Gaal.
The Dutch manager had lost each of his previous three meetings with Swansea by the same scoreline, including his Premier League bow back in August 2014.
However, Rooney produced a sublime finish 13 minutes from time to earn United a first win in nine in all competitions.
After dominating the early stages, Van Gaal's men allowed Swansea back into the match, with Morgan Schneiderlin surviving penalty claims for an alleged handball.
But the breakthrough came two minutes into the second half when the impressive Ashley Young supplied the cross for Anthony Martial to score his eighth United goal.
Swansea refused to go down without a fight and, after Andre Ayew hit a post, Gylfi Sigurdsson restored parity with a looping 70th-minute header.
However, Rooney had the final say, with his flicked finish sending United into the top five while Swansea remain one place above the relegation zone.
Phil Jones came into the United defence in place of Matteo Darmian, while Swansea reverted to a more familiar starting XI after ringing the changes for Monday's goalless draw at Crystal Palace, with Jonjo Shelvey axed from the matchday squad.
United put in a much-improved performance when they were held by Chelsea last time out and made another bright start on Saturday, with Ander Herrera having a shot blocked in the box by Federico Fernandez early on.
Swansea settled as the half progressed and Wayne Routledge's volley force David De Gea into his first save, before the visitors' calls for a penalty were rejected when Schneiderlin's acrobatic clearance struck his own hand in the United box.
Rooney climbed to power a header goalwards nine minutes from the break, only to see the ball bounce back off the heel of Jack Cork, who avoided punishment for what could have been deemed to be a backpass soon after.
Young was a constant threat down the right wing and carved out two more opportunities prior to the half-time whistle - rounding Leon Britton and cutting back for Juan Mata to draw a save from Lukasz Fabianski before the goalkeeper also kept out a Rooney header from the England winger's cross.
The warning signals were there for Swansea and Young proved instrumental as United took the lead two minutes into the second half.
The 30-year-old's ball in from the right found its way to Martial, whose downward header beat Fabianski.
United's last two Premier League defeats from leading positions have come against Swansea and they will have been fearing the worst when Ayew headed against the post shortly after the hour mark.
Angel Rangel was subsequently booked when he was judged to have dived in the box as he chased the rebound, but Sigurdsson - scorer of the winner at Old Trafford last season - netted the leveller from a Modou Barrow cross.
However, Rooney - without a Premier League goal since October 17 - applied an improvised finish to a Martial ball into the box in the 77th minute.
De Gea came to the rescue when Ashley Williams unleashed an instinctive drive in the closing stages and goalkeeper Fabianski headed narrowly wide from a corner with the last action of the match, but United held on to end their winless run.
Swansea settled as the half progressed and Wayne Routledge's volley force David De Gea into his first save, before the visitors' calls for a penalty were rejected when Schneiderlin's acrobatic clearance struck his own hand in the United box.
Rooney climbed to power a header goalwards nine minutes from the break, only to see the ball bounce back off the heel of Jack Cork, who avoided punishment for what could have been deemed to be a backpass soon after.
Young was a constant threat down the right wing and carved out two more opportunities prior to the half-time whistle - rounding Leon Britton and cutting back for Juan Mata to draw a save from Lukasz Fabianski before the goalkeeper also kept out a Rooney header from the England winger's cross.
The warning signals were there for Swansea and Young proved instrumental as United took the lead two minutes into the second half.
The 30-year-old's ball in from the right found its way to Martial, whose downward header beat Fabianski.
United's last two Premier League defeats from leading positions have come against Swansea and they will have been fearing the worst when Ayew headed against the post shortly after the hour mark.
Angel Rangel was subsequently booked when he was judged to have dived in the box as he chased the rebound, but Sigurdsson - scorer of the winner at Old Trafford last season - netted the leveller from a Modou Barrow cross.
However, Rooney - without a Premier League goal since October 17 - applied an improvised finish to a Martial ball into the box in the 77th minute.
De Gea came to the rescue when Ashley Williams unleashed an instinctive drive in the closing stages and goalkeeper Fabianski headed narrowly wide from a corner with the last action of the match, but United held on to end their winless run.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário