Live Commentary

94mins

United put in a very solid, professional performance without hitting top gear and Everton failed to apply any real pressure to get back into the game.

93mins

United counter and good work from Van Nistelrooy sets up Gary Neville on the far post but he can't hit the target as he slides in.

90mins

The referee indicates that there will be four minutes of injury time.

88mins

Mikel Arteta gets booked after kicking the ball away following a free kick.

85mins

United make their final change and replace Park Ji-Sung with Kieran Richardson.

84mins

Alan Smith and Tim Cahill clash in the middle of the park but the referee just has a quiet word.

82mins

Arteta's cross is headed clear only as far as Neville and his left-footed drilled shot goes inches over the bar.

81mins

United make a substitution and bring on Alan Smith for Paul Scholes.

79mins

United are still looking comfortable at the moment as Everton's final ball has not been of quality.

76mins

David Moyes makes his final change and brings on Kevin Kilbane for Simon Davies.

74mins

Wayne Rooney surges from midfield and plays Park Ji-Sung through but his shot goes wide of the post.

72mins

Manchester United make a change and bring on Gabriel Heinze for Darren Fletcher.

70mins

Phil Neville clatters in to Park Ji-Sung and picks up a yellow card.

68mins

A dangerous cross is whipped in by Arteta but it eludes everybody and goes just wide of the post.

65mins

Arteta plays a delightful free kick for an unmarked Cahill but his header is straight at Van Der Sar.

64mins

Duncan Ferguson makes his entrance at the expense of Leon Osman.

63mins

United are upping the tempo and Yobo's last ditch tackle saves Everton when Van Niselrooy was preparing to strike.

61mins

Neville's through ball is taken well by Park Ji-Sung but he mishits his volley and the danger passes.

58mins

United are looking comfortable at the moment although Everton are still throwing themselves into the tackles.

55mins

Marcus Bent is finding little support when the ball is played up to him and Ferguson looks like me might soon be introduced.

52mins

United are beginning to find their rhythm but Everton are still fighting hard to get back into this game.

49mins

An Arteta corner is half-cleared by Van Der Sar but Weir's first time header goes just over.

46mins

Joseph Yobo inexplicably plays the ball across the box and Rooney latches onto it and coolly slots past Martyn.

46mins

Manchester United get the second half underway.

45mins

Its been a very even contest, both sides have had chances and United are perhaps fortunate to be ahead.

42mins

Rooney feeds O'Shea down the left and his cross is expertly turned home by Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

40mins

Scholes blasts over the bar from close range after a good cross from Gary Neville.

38mins

United appeal for a penalty when Van Nistelrooy goes down under a challenge from Yobo, but nothing is given.

35mins

Paul Scholes is late when tackling Phil Neville and picks up a yellow card.

34mins

Yobo heads Arteta's cornwer down for Bent but his shot is deflected onto the bar by Mikael Silvestre.

33mins

Everton counter well and Marcus Bent's shot is charged behind by Roy Keane.

32mins

Alessandro Pistone wildly brings down Wayne Rooney and picks up the game's first yellow card.

30mins

Keane rolls a free kick to Paul Scholes but his powerful drive is saved comfortably by Martyn.

27mins

The match still remains evenly poised with neither team able to get on top at the moment.

24mins

Everton have picked up the pace and are beginning to build up the pressure on United.

21mins

Everton break quickly and Davies puts over an inviting cross for Tim Cahill but Van Der Sar makes a brilliant save.

20mins

Marcus Bent enters the fray for the injured James Beattie.

18mins

James Beattie picks up an injury and is forced to leave the field.

17mins

Everton are sharp in the tackle and United are finding it difficult to settle into their passing game.

14mins

Park Ji-Sung and Paul Scholes combine well and set-up Van Nistelrooy but his shot goes the wrong side of the post.

11mins

Fletcher sends Neville free down the right who cuts the ball back for Rooney but his shot goes wide.

10mins

A Hibbert clearance cannons off Van Nistelrooy and has Martyn quickly back-pedalling.

8mins

Apart from the free kick there have been no real chances as yet and neither team has imposed themselves.

5mins

It has been a very competitive start and the rain is helping with the pace of the game.

2mins

Van Nistelrooy tries a whipped curler with the free kick but just clips the bar.

1mins

Van Nistelrooy is brought down by Phil Neville and United earn a free kick in a dangerous area.

0mins

Graham Poll blows his whistle and Everton get the new Premiership season underway.

Match Report

It seems like only a blink of an eye since Everton were celebrating an unlikely Champions League birth and Manchester United cursing a second consecutive titleless season.

There have been major changes at both clubs over the summer but as the new season began in earnest at Goodison Park it was an Everton old boy who made the difference between two equally matched sides.

An ageing midfield and a failure to iron out rudimentary defensive lapses means Wayne Rooney may have to drag the Red Devils single-handedly to the Premiership summit.

But on the evidence of this rain drenched season opener, the England star could be more than capable of carrying that burden.

He was a constant threat in a topsy-turvy tie that showed up both team's strengths and weaknesses in almost equal measure.

The former Park End prodigy silenced the boo-boys with a clinical second-half strike and was instrumental in creating the first-half opener for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Before kick-off an impeccably observed minute's silence for murdered teenager, Anthony Walker, was followed by a raucous cacophony that let everyone from miles around know a new Premiership campaign was now upon us.

Within a minute van Nistelrooy showed his desire to be Sir Alex Ferguson's top marksmen as he pushed aside Rooney and Paul Scholes to whip a driven free-kick inches over Nigel Martyn's goal.

James Beattie did nothing to suggest the new season can kick-start his stuttering Blues career as he was replaced after 20 minutes by Marcus Bent and the ex-Ipswich man almost made an immediate impact.

His quick turn and run worried United's previously calm defence and when the loose ball eventually fell to Simon Davies his cross was met by Tim Cahill on the back post. Only a superb save from Edwin Van der Sar denied the Australian his first goal of the new campaign.

Minutes later Bent's run again unsettled Ferguson's side and Leon Osman glanced a deft header just wide from a clever Cahill cross.

United were rattled and any doubts over whether Everton could live with the league's best for a second successive year were slowly evaporating.

United looked devoid of attacking ideas – their only threat coming from two timid free-kicks which were dealt with easily by the confident Blues.

Bent came closest to a breakthrough just after the half hour mark when from a floated corner David Weir headed down and the lively striker clipped a glorious right-foot volley off the top of United's bar.

David Moyes later conceded that it was his side's failure to capatalise while they were on top that cost them the game.

Van Nistelrooy's questionable appeal for a penalty epitomised the Old Trafford outfit's early desperation, but two minutes before the break United reminded everyone of just how clinical they can be.

Rooney drew three defenders, flicked a majestic ball into the onrushing John O'Shea's path and his first-time cross was tapped into the roof of the net by van Nistelrooy from four yards out.

Within 28 seconds of the second half, United were presented with a gift horse of derby winning proportions when Joseph Yobo's mindless back pass fell straight to Rooney who wasted no time in looking it in the mouth before calmly sliding home a second goal from six yards.

Demoralised but not defeated, the Blues went about making up for their dreadful start as Cahill forced another save out of Van der Sar with an almost identical header to his first-half effort.

And minutes later Cahill's flick gave substitute Duncan Ferguson a glimmer of a chance, but the big Scot could not react in time as the ball skidded off a rain trodden surface.

Ji-Sung Park fluffed his big chance to endear himself to the United faithful on his Premiership debut, failing to connect with a left-footed volley after another Yobo mistake.

But despite Everton's efforts United thoroughly controlled a slow paced second half.

The introduction of Ferguson alongside Bent did little to threaten the Red Devils back line which had looked so fragile in the first period.

Moyes' move to a 4-4-2 formation gave United's midfield even more time on the ball, although Roy Keane and Scholes' failure to use it to any great effect suggested that their decade of dominance could be on the wane.

It was only when Rooney dropped deep that any real damage was done. He slipped in Park for a second chance at goal but the new signing from PSV curled a sliding shot well wide.

Phil Neville's impressively tidy home Premiership debut was almost capped with a wonder goal when he unleashed a stunning left-footed drive from all of 30 yards that fizzed inches over Van der Sar's goal.

Moyes' assertion that the ex-United utility man will enhance his side's chances this season seemed well placed after a second man-of-the-match display in the space of four days.

A late sliced effort from Ferguson fell neatly into the arms of Van der Sar and Gary Neville's uncharacteristic drive into the Everton box almost produced an unlikely third as the game petered out with a quiet whimper.

United rode their luck in a turbulent first half and will be thankful for Everton's inability to convert their dominance into goals.

Ferguson's side may still be a long way off challenging Chelsea on this evidence but their ability to carve out results and Rooney's seemingly unstoppable march to Premiership dominance means that you can never count them out.

Corners

Fouls

Goal attempts

Shots off target

Offsides