Finally Manchester United fans can rejoice and celebrate after picking up their first win of the season this weekend.
The Red Devils won convincingly 4-0 against QPR at Old Trafford, marking to true beginning of the Louis van Gaal Era at United.
The R’s may not be one of the most difficult teams for United to beat, but it will bring confidence to the side to continue this form throughout the rest of the season.
Here are FIVE takeaways from this game…
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Angel Di Maria
The Argentine was simply sublime in this game. Since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid back in 2009, United have been crying out for someone to fill the legendary number seven shirt once worn by the likes of David Beckham and Eric Cantona.
They may have finally found another name to add to the ‘Number Seven Legends’ list after Di Maria’s performance yesterday.
The £59.7m man may have had a bit of a shaky start to his career at United against Burnley, but he certainly picked himself up yesterday to provide one goal from a lucky free kick, and an assist to Juan Mata’s goal.
Ander Herrera
Some people may argue that Ander Herrera played just as good, if not better than Di Maria yesterday. To me, yesterday he resembled one of United’s best box-to-box midfielders ever, Paul Scholes.
The 25-year-old Spaniard also scored his first goal yesterday from a fantastic strike from just outside the box, and provided an assist to Wayne Rooney’s goal later in the game. This performance earned him a whoscored.com rating of 9.9, nearly a perfect score.
Shine bright like a diamond
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Whilst many questioned Louis van Gaal’s decision to play three at the back during United’s first three games of the season, nobody questioned why United operated in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation with a diamond in midfield that worked brilliantly.
The tactic brought the best out of United’s midfielders, especially one of their summer arrivals Daley Blind. The Dutchman played really well, sitting just in front of the defence completing 112 passes with four key passes and had 122 touches.
He resembled the midfielder that United have been searching for as he looked calm, composed and organised throughout the game. It will be interesting to see if United use this formation against bigger teams and how successful it turns out to be.
Juan Mata
After the arrivals to Old Trafford throughout the summer, many have questioned if Mata still has a place in the United squad, but yesterday the Spaniard proved his doubters wrong.
In his preferred number ten role, Mata completed 98% of his passes and scored one goal before being substituted for Radamel Falcao part way through the second half.
I think it’s ridiculous that Mata could possibly leave the club after all he has scored eight goals in his last ten Premier League appearances for United.
Robin van Persie
Whilst United did manage to score four goals yesterday, Dutchman Robin van Persie continued his struggle to find the back of the net. The 31 year old is yet to score this season after four games and could pay the ultimate price because of this goal drought.
Many pointed the finger at Mata saying he would be the one to suffer from the arrival of Falcao at Old Trafford, but I think it could be van Persie seeing the bench sometime soon and replaced by the Colombian if he doesn’t start scoring soon. He must improve in United’s next game away at Leicester.