NE Revolution 1 United 4

By that time, New England Revolution, managed by former Liverpool player Steve Nicol, had pulled a goal back somewhat fortuitously. Benny Feilhaber's free-kick deflected in off his team-mate Kenny Mansally, with Reds goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard cruelly wrong-footed.

The goal of the game arrived on 80 minutes, as Gabriel Obertan, Ji-sung Park and Ryan Giggs combined superbly inside the penalty area to play in Park, who clipped an audacious finish over Shuttleworth.

It was a moment of true quality, and one the crowd of 51,523 lapped up. If the fans in New England had been disappointed at the interval, they could have no complaints at the final whistle.

Nor could Sir Alex. He would have anticipated a slow start – it was the team's first outing since the Champions League final, after all – but there were plenty of positives to take from the fixture. The Reds often looked composed on the ball, Ashley Young produced a lively Reds debut and, perhaps most importantly, nobody picked up any injuries.

United's Tour 2011 is underway, and off to a winning start.

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