Joshua Zirkzee announced himself at Manchester United by scoring a late winner on his debut to secure an unconvincing 1-0 win over Fulham for Erik ten Hag's side.
The £35m striker, a new signing from Bologna, came off the bench and provided a deft flick on fellow substitute Alejandro Garnacho's cross with three minutes of normal time remaining, after United had struggled to break down Marco Silva's side.
With Ten Hag trusted with a third season at Old Trafford by new co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, the campaign began with three points but with many issues to solve as Fulham had the better of the first quarter, with Keny Tete forcing Andrea Onana into a good early save from 25 yards.
United improved in the first half and began forcing the visitors into errors, one of which saw Bernd Leno pass straight out to Casemiro, who fed makeshift starting striker Bruno Fernandes but the Fulham goalkeeper atoned for his error by saving well. Minutes later, Leno denied the Man Utd captain again from close range after a good move from the hosts.
Leno was at it again after the break as he denied Mason Mount from close range. Meanwhile, at the other end, Onana had to be alert to tip Rodrigo Muniz's deflected acrobatic volley over his bar.
United brought Zirkzee on for his debut with half an hour to go, but the substitution initially failed to make an impact. If anything, Fulham looked more dangerous on the break with Andreas Pereira wasting two good openings on Adama Traore-led breaks with wasteful passes.
But with minutes remaining, Zirkzee turned in Garnacho's delivery with just his seventh touch of the match, to spare Ten Hag's blushes and get a winning feeling to Old Trafford at the start of the new campaign.
There was still time for Garnacho to produce an early contender for miss of the season as he failed to turn home Marcus Rashford's square ball with the goal gaping.
But it needn't matter - United begin the season with a win, but only just.
Skysports