When Robin Van Persie swirled around and banged in a left-footer to the back of the net wearing a red shirt, it was reminiscent of the goals he has scored time and again for Arsenal. Saturday, the prolific Dutchman showed exactly why Sir Alex Ferguson shelled out all that money for him, scoring his first goal for Manchester United in an entertaining 3-2 win over Fulham in the English Premier League.
Shinji Kagawa also got his first goal for his new club, with Rafael netting what turned out to be the winner, after Fulham had taken the lead through Damien Duff. Nemanja Vidic scored into his own net to give Fulham some hope, but United hung on to pick their first win of the season at Old Trafford, in a game which saw Wayne Rooney left on the bench and Van Persie given the lone striker's role.
In other matches, Tottenham leaked in a late goal to settle for a 1-1 draw with West Brom, while Everton and Wigan picked up victories. Norwich and Queens Park Rangers also drew 1-1.
At Old Trafford, Fulham scored the opener off a nicely worked freekick. Bryan Ruiz sliding in a low cross for Damien Duff, who shook off the attentions of Young, to slide in the ball low.
Van Persie then found the perfect way to endear himself to the Manchester United faithful, with the 29-year-old hooking a perfect goal on the volley, giving Mark Schwarzer no chance.
United went ahead, when Tom Cleverley sent in a rasping shot, after the ball came out to him just outside the box from a corner, which Schwarzer could only parry straight to Shinji Kagawa, who had the simple task of tapping in.
Kagawa almost got his second soon after when the midfielder found himself with space inside the box, but saw his shot bounce off the post. The rebound fell to Rafael, who slotted it in, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Rafael, however got his goal later, when the fullback headed in at the back post off a nice cross from Ashley Young. Fulham very nearly made it 3-2, but David de Gea saved a strike from Mladen Petric onto the crossbar.
The London side got back into the game in bizarre circumstances. A cross from the left saw David de Gea come out to try and punch clear, with Nemanja Vidic and Petric in attendance, and somehow the ball went into the back of the net of Vidic's heel, with de Gea caught out of position.
Moussa Dembele, who was easily the best player for Fulham, maybe even the best player on the pitch, nearly equalised when he made a weaving run inside the box, but his shot was well saved by De Gea.
United brought on Rooney and Danny Welbeck, with Van Persie staying on, for the final 20 minutes. The visitors tried their hardest to find that equaliser, with Dembele again posing a constant threat, but United hung on for a far from convincing victory.
At Villa Park, Steven Pienaar, Marouane Fellaini and Nikica Jelavic scored for Everton as the Toffees pulled off another impressive win over Aston Villa.
Results: Swansea 3-0 West Ham; Aston Villa 1-3 Everton; Manchester United 3-2 Fulham; Norwich City 1-1 Queens Park Rangers; Southampton 0-2 Wigan; Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 West Bromwich Albion; Sunderland vs Reading postponed due to waterlogged pitch.
