In The Lead: Manchester United 2 Everton 0

RVP's form bring United to victory as the Reds go 12 points clear

Image retrieved from The Official Barclays Premier League Twitter Page

Starting Lineups

Manchester United: De Gea ; Rafael, Vidic, Evans (SUB Smalling 80'), Evra ; Valencia, Cleverley, Jones (SUB Carrick 57') Giggs (GOAL! 12') ; Rooney, Van Persie (GOAL! 45')

(Bench: Amos, Anderson, Hernandez, Nani, Welbeck)

Everton: Howard ; Neville, Heitinga, Jagielka, Baines ; Mirallas Y (SUB Naismith 70'), Osman, Gibson, Pienaar, Fellaini Y ; Anichebe (SUB Jelavic 56')

(Bench: Mucha, Duffy, Oviedo, Hitzlsperger, Stones)

With Manchester City registering a shock loss against newly-promoted team Southampton, Sir Alex Ferguson knew he had to win against Everton. And despite a Real Madrid CL fixture in midweek, the Reds played a full strength team against Everton, taking the stakes of the game into heavy consideration, which paid off as they saw the Toffees off 2-0 at Old Trafford and placed themselves 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

United pumped the pace quickly in the opening minutes of the first half, winning their first free kick at the edge of the box just before the two-minute mark. They kept the pressure going until Rooney made a brilliant pass to Robin van Persie who missed the empty goal as he hit the post. The Dutchman tried to redeem himself three minutes later, causing a scramble inside the box. Enter Ryan Giggs, who chipped the ball in to give United the lead.

Ryan Giggs shrugged his age away as his goal gave United the lead

Image retrieved from The Official Barclays Premier League Twitter Page

From that point on, United seemed content and stepped off the gas a bit, inviting pressure from the Toffees. Everton responded appropriately as attempts from Leon Osman, Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas all blocked away. The Reds have Vidic to thank, who remained stalwart in defense as the Blues dominated possession for a good amount of time.

But United caught David Moyes' side at the break when Rafael's through ball towards Robin van Persie paid dividends. The Dutchman made sure he made no mistakes this time round as he outsmarted keeper Tim Howard yet again for the goal just at the 45th minute mark.

Robin van Persie makes no mistake as he rounds Tim Howard to slot the ball into the empty net

Image retrieved from The Official Barclays Premier League Twitter Page

United start off the second half the way they did the first. They maintain good possession of the ball for a good amount of time but Everton's back line did well to parry the chances. A header from Giggs at the 65th minute was kept out by Howard but the keeper spilled it, causing a scramble in front of the net. Giggs tried to bring it in but they had to settle for a corner. The succeeding corner saw Cleverley pull off a Scholes-like strike from the edge of the box, which was superbly tipped out by Tim Howard.

Everton staged a few chances, but they had simply lost heart. The Reds saw the game off with Sir Alex Ferguson's side moving a whopping twelve points clear against noisy neighbors City.

Worth a Thousand Words: Southampton 2 Manchester United 3

Van Persie celebrates his winning goal for United as the team came from behind to clinch a dramatic last-gasp win

Image retrieved from the official Barclays' Premier League website

The United fans felt the thrill of a roller-coaster ride as they watched their favorite team face Southampton at St. Mary's Stadium Sunday.

Like their first game, Southampton took the early lead against another Manchester club with a fabulous header from Rickie Lambert in the 16th minute. In contrast, similar to what happened at Old Trafford last week against Fulham, it was Robin van Persie who gets the equalizer using his trademark left-footer shot just seven odd minutes later.

The game went quiet as it progressed to the second-half, when the Saints gained momentum and confidence as they battered the United defense in rapid-fire succession. The United back line would soon give way as an Evra slip provided Schneiderlin an open goal to take his team ahead 2-1 with roughly three-quarters of the game gone.

Then came Paul Scholes.

The Saints never knew what hit them as the legendary midfielder immediately made his presence felt and controlled the tempo of the game. As Sir Alex Ferguson said in a post-match interview, "Scholes was the catalyst" and he sure was. His superb passing tilted control to the Red Devils' favor, and in similar fashion to how Manchester City beat QPR in the last game of last season, Van Persie scores twice in a span of five minutes to clinch the dramatic late win for United, despite missing a penalty just a few minutes earlier in the most anti-climactic and disappointing of fashion.

"Well, that was a close one..."

Image retrieved from thescore.thejournal.ie

A lot of things were evident during this game, including United's defense. Ferdinand and Vidic are the best defensive combination in the English Premiership, when they're in form. With Vidic still feeling the waters after his injury last season, and Ferdinand in pretty much the same situation after getting injured and missing the Fulham fixture, they're certainly not in form.

Central midfield once again pops up as another problem for the Red Devils. Carrick and Cleverley proved a bit lacking as Southampton easily traversed through this section of the pitch.

The Japanese playmaker Kagawa, despite his talent, is simply being dominated by his lanky counterparts, proving that bulking up his body, even just slightly, would prove pivotal.

All in all, this game proved to be a game of a thousand words and emotions for Sir Alex Ferguson's 1000th league game as manager of the club he'd served for more than 25 years. Interestingly, RVP's hat-trick gave him his 98th, 99th and 100th league goal, and when those two numbers are joined together, you know something special is bound to happen this season for Manchester United.

Felled by Fellaini: Everton 1 Man United 0

Everton's Marouane Fellaini celebrates after heading the winning goal for his team

Image retrieved from bettingzone.co.uk

It was a disappointing night for Manchester United fans like me when the Red Devils traveled to Goodison Park for their first league fixture against Everton. United were expected to win the game following the signing of Kagawa and Robin van Persie, but it wasn't meant to be.

Everton were quick to show the away side that they were out there to prove every critic wrong, that they were not slow starters. The Toffees were quickly onto the attack, with a lot of goal attempts early on, including one that hit the woodwork, an attempt from Leighton Baines. Osman, Fellaini and Jelavic from Everton were all in the attack, and it was visible that United's defense struggled.

The Reds rallied back, with Rooney sending two shots on target, but both were saved by keeper Howard. But this comeback was short-lived. Five minutes before half-time, Osman fired a rocket shot, forcing the De Gea to make a crucial save.

Second-half was pretty much the same story. Despite the resiliency of the Manchester United back-line, they succumbed to Marouane Fellaini, whose presence pretty much battered the Reds' defense. Time and again, he threatened to goal, which finally came just before the passing of the hour. Fellaini out-jumped Carrick, heading the winning goal.

Fellaini out-jumps Carrick and heads the winning goal for his side

Image retrieved from The Sun

While the Reds tried to find the equalizer, playing Robin van Persie later on in the game, the Toffees retained the lead, and they won their first league fixture, 1-0.

It was definitely a miserable first game for my favorite team, who was obviously lacking in so many respects during the match. As an acquaintance from a fan-based forum once said, "square peg, round holes". Putting Carrick on center-back, and assigning him to mark the taller Fellaini was simply a mistake, despite how glorious Carrick's defensive ability is on paper. Vidic should've been the one marking him, with Carrick replaced by an actual center-back, like Evans.

Nani played drearily throughout the game, missing crucial passes. He did not look 100% committed in the game, which was disappointing. Meanwhile, Valencia was wasted at right-back. His prowess is better suited in right midfield, and his connection with Rafael has been established in the past.

Also, marquee signing Robin van Persie wasn't in the game long enough to make an impression.

Robin van Persie was brought in as a sub for Welbeck in the 78th minute

Image retrieved from theage.com.au

Despite this loss, there were the players who still stood out and played well. Cleverley made those important passes, more so playmaker Shinji Kagawa, who was moving from his original position in left wing to just behind the striker, proving a lot of wonderful passes. His presence would certainly be an ace in the United line-up.

Then again, a loss is a loss, and the United fans like me can only shake our head in dismay, forget about this mishap and look forward to the next game, where we hopefully kick things off to a better light.