Juan Mata was the star of the show as Manchester United got off the mark in the Champions League with a narrow win over Wolfsburg.
Daniel Caligiuri took advantage of some slack defending from the hosts to put Wolfsburg ahead in the fourth minute, but Mata won - and converted - a penalty to equalise 11 minutes before the break.
The Spaniard then backheeled a lovely pass straight into Chris Smalling's path and he slotted the ball past Diego Benaglio to give United a 2-1 win.
United looked anything but potential Champions League winners - as Bastian Schweinsteiger claimed they were on the eve of the match - but Louis van Gaal will not be too perturbed.
After losing their first Group B match to PSV earlier this month, the United boss knew this was a must-win encounter and he will be glad his team just about dragged themselves over the line against a disciplined and threatening German opponent.
After a wobbly start, United are now second in their group, level on three points with Wolfsburg, PSV and CSKA Moscow.
United attacked with intent from the off, but the hosts were stunned in the fourth minute when Wolfsburg took the lead.
Smalling, Morgan Schneiderlin and Daley Blind failed to dispossess Caligiuri in the right corner. He played the ball inside to Max Kruse, who returned the ball to the midfielder in the box and he jabbed the ball past David de Gea. The goal would not have stood had Antonio Valencia been in line with his fellow defenders.
United looked for an immediate reply, but struggled to find one. Dante flung himself into the path of a Mata curler and diverted the goal-bound shot over the bar.
Anthony Martial shrugged off his marker and negotiated his way past another before rifling a shot just wide.
Matteo Darmian put in a crucial block deep inside the home box and United immediately went on the counter. Martial turned his marker and squared to the unmarked Wayne Rooney but he planted the ball into the crowd.
Finally the nerves eased inside Old Trafford when Mata cut in from the right and swung in a cross which was impeded by Caligiuri's outstretched left arm.
Referee Viktor Kassai pointed to the spot and Mata slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
United had more composure about them in defence after Ashley Young came on for Valencia at half-time.
Wolfsburg looked for another early goal, but luckily for United, Darmian was on hand to deny Bas Dost an easy tap in.
United then put themselves in charge of the game in the 53rd minute. Smalling rolled the ball past Wolfsburg goalkeeper Benaglio, but Mata should take the lion's share of the credit for the goal. The Spaniard flicked a wayward pass over the Wolfsburg back four and into Smalling's path. The defender slid in and guided the ball past Benaglio with his right foot.
Caligiuri tested De Gea with a low shot as Wolfsburg looked for an equaliser. Nicklas Bendtner and Andre Schurrle came off the bench to add to the Germans' attacking threat.
The former Arsenal striker fluffed a good chance just after entering the pitch and Wolfsburg continued to apply pressure, but United hung on for their first Champions League win under Van Gaal.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here