Clinical finishing proves the difference as Champions United show the value of a £30million striker
Now that the first game of the season is done and dusted, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that, with a scoreline very flatteringly in United's favour, this game was a very one sided affair - and while you can't argue with that statement too vehemently Swansea gave as good as they got for large swathes of the game I thought, especially early on.
I'd previously worried that, given a run of clean sheets through pre-season and the two Malmo games that the first goal we conceded would be swiftly followed by another, and so it was that barely two minutes after Robin Van Persie's stunning opener Danny Welbeck found himself on hand to tap in form Antonio Valencia's clever half-volleyed cross. 2-0, and given Moyes' record against the Swans I was pretty dubious we'd get anything from the match.
The opener came at a time when United had seemed to soak up Swansea's early pressure, but a quick look at some stats paints a surprising picture. Swansea completed 87% of their passes - United only 82% but clearly they took their chances better as the Swans actually managed more efforts on goal - 17 as opposed to United's 14.
The second half was much like the first, but notable for the introduction at half time of Wifried Bony & Pablo Hernandez - on for Routledge & Britton. Both players added something in attack, and so it was that after that man Van Persie had extended United's lead to three goals the Swans' record signing showed the home crowd what he can do. Collecting a neat pass from Hernandez on the left hand side of the area, he hit a low side-footed effort across De Gea into the bottom corner - an excellent finish and it's just a shame he couldn't mark his league debut with a win.
As it happened, it got even worse for the Swans. In the 90th minute Danny Welbeck produced a sublime finish when he chipped Michel Vorm from an acute angle, and the match ended shortly afterwards 4-1 in United's favour. Harsh? Possible a little, but you can't really argue that Moyes' men came and did a thorough job on us. I'd have preferred to see Leon stay in place of Canas - the Spaniard picked up a yellow early on and while he did well I thought he always looked likely to get sent off, and his enthusiasm does seem to distort the team shape somewhat. When you take Britton out of that scenario the problem will only be compounded.
On a positive note, there were plenty of encouraging signs from the Swans. Chico looked outstanding and made the joint-most clearances of the game with 10 (tied with Rio Ferdinand), while Nathan Dyer was excellent and completed 95% of his passes. Wilfried Bony again showed he's liable to be a valued asset this year, and it's the big frontman who I'm most excited about. Once fully fit and up to Premier League speed he's going to be a complete monster.
Time to move on then. The upcoming Europa League fixture against Petrolul Ploiesti gives the Swans the chance to exact some kind of revenge, and if they play to the same standard as yesterday I think they'll take their Romanian opponents apart.
To read a blog with some info about our upcoming Romanian opponents, click here: http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/08/swansea-to-face-petrolul-ploiesti-of.html