After last weeks draw against Newcastle in the opening weekend, United really needed a win to get them going but with the injurys and players unavailable for whatever reason, it was easier said.

Anderson was in the starting line-up which was a suprise considering he has just got back from the Olympics.
United starting players: Van Der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, O'Shea, Scholes, Anderson, Rooney and Tevez. It was a rather young looking bench: Kuszczak, Fabio Da Silva, Rafael Da Silva, Neville, Campbell, Gibson and Possebon.

The match started off at a good pace with Diop flashing a shot just past Van Der Sar's right post.
3 minutes in and Brown found himself in acres of space down the right, he crossed in to Rooney but Rooney's shot was straight at James.

12 minutes into the match and Van Der Sar was having a go in midfield, he came flying out of the box to get rid of the ball.
United had a few chances, Rooney was in but a fantastic tackle by Kaboul saved Pompey, Scholes was having a shot from 30 yards out but it was straight at James.

33 minutes in and there was a break through, Fletcher made a near post run and converted Evra's cross, the ball was put in by either Distin or Campbell. Distin looked like he had his foot on the ball but so did Campbell. As far as I know, the goal went down as a Distin own goal, the dubious goals commitee with sort it out.

Five minutes before the break and Rooney had a fantastic chance to put United 2-0 up. Anderson slotted the ball to Rooney, Rooney's shot went past James' left post.

The first half was a descent half, United grew in confidence, especially after we had scored.

Just after the break, United had another good chance to go 2-0 up, Tevez passed the ball to Rooney, Rooney knocked the ball into the box and Anderson would have had a tap in but Distin was there to clear it.

50 minutes in and United had put the ball into the back of the net, it looked like Rooney had scored his first goal of the season but he was ruled offside, a replay showed that he was around a yard onside.

United had some other chances in the second half. There was a nice ball by Vidic over the top to Rooney, Rooney controlled the ball brilliantly, he slipped the ball to Anderson but Anderson's shot was wild, I put it down to jet lag.

United had a freekick just outside the penalty area but that came to nothing, a minute or ttwo later Pompey had a freekick in exactly the same place but on the other side of the pitch, the freekick went straight into the wall.

United held on for the 1-0 win, there wasn't too much on Van Der Sar's goal though. I think it was a very important win for United especially when you consider that United's next two Premier League matches are away to Liverpool and Chelsea.

Possebon came on for United, he had some great touches and he looked like he was really enjoying himself on the pitch.
United's man of the match definetly was Evra, he was fantastic throughout the match. United didn't have any natural wingers on the pitch and United's full backs were the difference between United and Portsmouth - Evra and Brown were bombing down the pitch all night.