Bournemouth 1 United 3

The Vitality Stadium was the scene of one of United's most dismal performances in a season of dismal performances last year.  It was therefore very satisfying to see United see Bournemouth off so convincingly at the beginning of this Premier League season.  Although this was far from a perfect performance, it contained levels of energy and desire to win that were so woefully absent last season and enough moments of quality to make Reds fans optimistic about the season ahead.

Defences were on top for much of the first half, with the Reds appeared hindered by an all too familiar lack of pace in the final third.  Although it was good to see Mata featuring in Mourinho's plans,replacing the injured Lingard, his inclusion certainly looked to be one of admittedly several factors contributing to a lack of penetration in United's attack.

It was therefore something of a pleasant surprise that it was Mata's persistence that brought a breakthrough for United five minutes before half-time.  Francis' careless back pass put the Spaniard in and, although his shot failed to beat Boruc, the ball rebounded off the Bournemouth defender, allowing Mata to tap in from close range.

Rooney almost capitalised after a deft flick from Ibrahimovic early in the second half, but Boruc did well to block his shot with his legs.  Rooney then had what looked a good shout for a penalty waved away before being on hand to double the Reds' lead just before the hour mark, his head putting the finishing touch to Martial's mishit shot.

Minutes later it was 3-0.  Ibrahimovic had drawn a fine save from Boruc from a free kick, but moments later he gave the keeper no chance when he drilled his long-range shot just inside his post.  It didn't take long for Bournemouth to pull one back though and Smith's fierce shot into the top corner was arguably the goal of the game.  

From there, despite occasional threats from the home side and one superb save from De Gea in stoppage time, it was a largely straightforward matter for United to see the game out and secure an opening day victory.  This, of course, is exactly the kind of away game United should be winning and such a victory would, not so long ago, been regarded as routine.  We've learned through bitter recent experience not to take such things for granted anymore, however, and the feel-good factor here registered pretty high up the scale.