Louis van Gaal's Manchester United reign got off to a false start on Saturday as Swansea City won 2-1 in the season's opening Premier League game at Old Trafford. Van Gaal was taking charge of his first competitive game as United manager, but his new side exhibited many of the same failings from last season - when they finished seventh - as they slumped to a surprise defeat.
South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-yueng exploited inattentive marking to give Swansea a 28th-minute lead with a left-foot shot from the edge of the box. United's new captain Wayne Rooney equalised early in the second period, but Gylfi Sigurdsson condemned the hosts to a first opening-day home defeat since 1972 with a close-range finish in the 72nd minute.
It gave Swansea back-to-back wins at Old Trafford, following their shock FA Cup success in January, and was a reversal of United's 4-1 win at the Liberty Stadium on the first day of last season. "It is very disappointing that we have lost our first home match," said Van Gaal, who took over at United after leading his native Holland to the World Cup semi-finals.
"We were very nervous in the first half, made the wrong choices, and that is a pity. In the second half, we never played as a team. Therefore, I'm responsible." Injuries obliged Van Gaal to hand competitive debuts to Tyler Blackett, 20, and 21-year-old Jesse Lingard, but Lingard was forced off by injury in the 24th minute.
United bossed possession in the first half, but Swansea struck from their first sight of goal when Ki stroked home a lay-off from Sigurdsson. Van Gaal switched formations from a 3-4-1-2 to a 4-2-3-1 at half-time and United responded immediately, with Rooney acrobatically volleying in at the back post after Juan Mata's corner was flicked on by Phil Jones.
Rooney then hit the post with a free-kick, but Swansea claimed victory when Icelandic midfielder Sigurdsson - back at the club after two years at Tottenham Hotspur - slammed home Wayne Routledge's mishit volley. "We have been working hard in pre-season on defensive shape and we can get even better at that," Swansea manager Garry Monk told BT Sport. "But there were pleasing signs in the way we stuck together and the goals we scored against a side of Manchester United's resources."
Eric Dier enjoyed a dream debut for Tottenham by scoring a 93rd-minute winner at West Ham United in manager Mauricio Pochettino's first game at the Spurs helm. After Spurs full-back Kyle Naughton and West Ham centre-back James Collins had both been sent off, substitute Dier coolly rounded goalkeeper Adrian in stoppage time before rolling home the game's only goal.
West Brom led 2-1 after Saido Berahino replied to Lee Cattermole's 25-yard strike with a brace, but Larsson earned Sunderland a 2-2 draw by sweeping home a cut-back from debutant Patrick van Aanholt. James Chester's 52nd-minute header gave Hull City a 1-0 win at promoted Queens Park Rangers, while Andreas Weimann earned Aston Villa a 1-0 victory at Stoke City.