Swansea 1 United 4

In the teeming rain at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea had threatened to make a nuisance of themselves in inclement conditions, but two quick-fire first-half goals and another two in the second half set David Moyes on his way to a first league win as Reds boss, simultaneously starting the champions’ title defence with a victory and putting United top of the league.Robin van Persie, on his 50th United appearance, continued his scoring start to the campaign with a brilliantly improvised volley on 34 minutes, and just two minutes later Danny Welbeck turned home from close range after being teed up by Antonio Valencia. It hadn’t been plain-sailing before that; Swansea started strongly – literally, with some stern challenges.
Slick conditions encouraged an open encounter, albeit lacking a little coherence at times. Michu had the ball in the back of the net in the first half but it was ruled out for offside. And with the home side showing they were a threat, that’s when United struck the afore-mentioned double blow. Michael Laudrup introduced Wilfried Bony and Pablo Hernandez at the break and the former gave his team a more positive outlook, while Michu forced a string of saves and interceptions from David De Gea.
Wayne Rooney emerged from the bench for his first Reds outing of the season, and one of his runs helped create space for van Persie as he smashed United’s third goal right into the top corner. With daylight between the two teams, United relaxed a little, but Swansea kept plugging away and when the Reds failed to clear the ball, Bony pounced and fired a shot into De Gea’s bottom left corner. However, United had the final say and Welbeck's sublime chip in stoppage time, laid on by Rooney, added some gloss to the scoreline in a winning 

Nani looks to the future

Nani sat down with ManUtd.com following the international break to discuss his return to fitness and new contract at Old Trafford..How are you feeling now you’re back from injury and you’ve had the games for United and Portugal? I feel very good. I think, at the moment, there are no problems with my condition, with my fitness and with my body. It’s all good now so I’m able to focus on my job and work hard to be at my best. I’ve signed the new contract so that’s fantastic. I’m ready to work hard and help the team.
How frustrating was the timing of the injury given you were looking very sharp in pre-season and during the game in Sweden when it happened? Yes, that was because I was working very hard in that game. I tried to work very hard to give my all, 100 per cent, and use my experience, skills and everything. That’s why I pulled up during a run. Now I’ve been working carefully so it’s all progressive. I feel very good. I’ve played a couple of games and I think I’m ready to play more games.
You mentioned you’re excited to sign the contract. It means you’ll have your peak years here now.. I’m more relaxed as now I can focus just on the games and what I am going to do on the pitch. That is very important for a player to have all the things outside of the pitch sorted out. Now I have a new contract with Manchester United and I’m so happy. I hope to give back on the pitch to try and win more trophies with the club.
Do you consider Manchester to be your home now? 

I felt home a long time ago. I think I’m part of this club as I’ve been here for a lot of successful seasons. Virtually all of my career, I’ve been here – I just had two years at Sporting Lisbon and all the rest was here. All my successful times have been at this club 

United collected a first home league win under David Moyes by seeing off Crystal Palace with a goal in each half through Robin van Persie and the returning Wayne Rooney.

United collected a first home league win under David Moyes by seeing off Crystal Palace with a goal in each half through Robin van Persie and the returning Wayne Rooney.

Ashley Young was a central figure in the first half as he was brought down by Kagisho Dikgacoi to allow van Persie to net a penalty after earlier being booked by referee Jon Moss for simulation after tangling with the same player.

Both sides seemed to take time to settle in the early kick-off and there were precious few efforts on goal until the match livened up following a magical backheeled attempt by van Persie that flew wide.

Van Persie opted for power rather than precision after chesting down an exquisite pass by Rooney and crashed past Julian Speroni but against the bar. Rooney, playing wearing a protective headband, was unable to reach a Young cross but Dwight Gayle lofted a clear opportunity at the other end wide after getting the better of Rio Ferdinand.

The key moment came just before half time as referee Moss awarded United a penalty and sent Dikgacoi off after some sloppy defending allowed Young through on goal. Van Persie kept his cool to beat Speroni from the spot for his fifth goal of the domestic season.

Any thoughts that the Reds would run away with the game after the interval were dismissed as Young could only fire a precise Anderson through ball at Speroni. The introduction of Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj helped spark sustained pressure as Speroni scrambled away a Fellaini drive, van Persie curled over the top and Rooney had shot blocked. The killer second finally arrived when Rooney swept a free-kick beyond Speroni's reach after Januzaj had been fouled.

MIKEL: IT WON'T TAKE LONG

John Mikel Obi discussed Samuel Eto'o after our new signing made his debut at Everton, and believes a player of his calibre will adapt to the demands of the English game quickly.

Eto'o was chosen to lead the line at Goodison Park and played the full 90 minutes, with Fernando Torres coming on to offer support as we pressed for an equaliser.

Eto'o a chance early on, a header which went wide from a Ramires cross, but Mikel saw enough in his performance to suggest he will be a major asset in the months ahead.

'He's a great player, a fantastic player, and you could see that by the way he played against Everton,' said the Nigerian. 'That's why the manager brought him here, he has a lot of trust in him so let's wait and see.

'The English league is a very difficult league to adapt to and it was the first game for him. He did pretty well so let's see how it goes for him.

'It took me around six months to a year to adapt, but someone like Eto'o, who has a lot of experience and has played in so many leagues, it won't take him that long to adapt.

'He looked sharp, it won't take him long to get back to full fitness. He's a world-class player and we just need to keep helping him to adapt to the Premier League.

THE DATA DAY: EVERTON V CHELSEA

In the wake of Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Everton, Jose Mourinho highlighted our failure to make the most of a number of goalscoring opportunities, with his thoughts backed up by the statistics from the game.

The Blues had 22 attempts on goal, double the amount of Everton, six of which were on target compared to the home side's five.

Of our 22 attempts, 16 came from inside the penalty area with six coming from outside the box.

Debutant Samuel Eto'o had six efforts on goal, three of which were on target, while Ramires was our second most threatening player with three strikes on goal, one of which forced an excellent save from Tim Howard.

Eden Hazard was our most influential passer in the final third, completing 19 from 27, but Juan Mata and Andre Schurrle, who were both withdrawn after 57 minutes, made 13 and 11 passes respectively.

The Blues enjoyed plenty of possession on Merseyside and it's no surprise in terms of passes completed that four of our players made the top five, with John Mikel Obi, David Luiz, John Terry and Ramires in front of Everton's Leon Osman. Crucially, however, it was Osman's cross which teed up the only goal of the game.

Mikel also came out on top in terms of ball recoveries, making 15, six more than Osman.

There were 24 fouls committed during the game, 14 by Chelsea and 10 by Everton. Four of our players - Branislav Ivanovic, Hazard, David Luix and Mikel - received yellow cards.

Hazard, along with his compatriot Kevin Mirallas, was the most fouled player of the match, winning us four free-kicks.

Roberto Martinez's side looked to utilise the threat of their wide players as often as possible, but we dealt well with crosses and balls from deep. Terry came out on top in five aerial duels out of six, with Ivanovic winning five of his seven.

The defeat was our first in the Premier League this season and our first since a 2-1 reverse at Southampton in March.

HAZARD: WE MUST BOUNCE BACK

Reflecting on our 1-0 defeat against Everton, Eden Hazard joined his manager in believing the result would have been different had chances been taken in the first half at Goodison Park.

Steven Naismith scored the only goal of the game right on the stroke of half-time, heading past Petr Cech from close range, and though Chelsea continued to press after the break, we were unable to breach a resolute Everton defence.

Samuel Eto'o, Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic all had opportunities to break the deadlock prior to Naismith's strike, but once we fell behind, as Hazard explained, it became tough.

'It was a good match, we tried to do our best and if we'd scored in the first half it would have been a different game,' he said.

'We started very well and we had three or four chances. We didn't score but we continued to try to score, and after Everton did, playing away it becomes very difficult.'

The defeat was our first in the Barclays Premier League this season, but with the opening match of our European campaign only a matter of days away there is no time to dwell on the disappointment.

'We have another game on Wednesday in the Champions League and we need to win because Chelsea is a big club and if we lose two games it's very bad for us,' said Hazard. 'We need to work in training to help us win that game

MORE SWINDON CUP TICKETS RECEIVED

A number of additional tickets are to go on sale for the previously sold-out away fan section for the Capital One Cup tie at Swindon.

Chelsea Football Club took the full allocation originally offered. These tickets have become available due to an agreement reached between Swindon Town FC and their local police force.

The match at the County Ground is on Tuesday 24 September with a 7.45pm kick-off.

Tickets, which are priced at £25, will be sold online only to season ticket holders (60 per cent of the new allocation) and members (40 per cent).

Season ticket holders who have not already bought a ticket can purchase one per person on Tuesday 17 September from 7am.

Members who have not already bought a ticket can purchase one per person on Wednesday 18 September from 7am.

Subject to availability, season ticket holders and members can buy an extra two tickets each (maximum of three in total) on Thursday 19 September from 7am.

Subsidised travel will operate for this match. Coaches will depart Stamford Bridge at 4.15pm, with tickets priced £10 per person.