Manchester United's first Champions League fixture for over a year has ended in victory as Memphis Depay's double and Marouane Fellaini's late strike secured a 3-1 win over Club Brugge in their playoff first leg at Old Trafford.
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The visitors took the lead in the eighth minute when Victor Vazquez's free kick 40 yards out from goal took a deflection against the Red Devils wall before Michael Carrick mistakenly hit it into his own net, wrongfooting Sergio Romero.
Just five minutes later, however, the veteran England midfielder redeemed himself by setting up Depay on the edge of the Brugge penalty area.
The Dutchman picked up the ball, cut inside and fired low into the net to level the scores and instantly take some pressure off Louis van Gaal and the home fans.
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From then on the Red Devils dominated proceedings on the pitch, culminating in a flurry of action just before the half-hour mark that saw Wayne Rooney's acrobatic overhead kick cleared off the line.
Depay then succeeded in doubling his side's lead on the stroke of half time when he latched on to a pass and broke through the defence before firing past Sebastien Bruzzese inside the right post.
The Netherlands international continued to impress for Man Utd after the restart, jinking his way through multiple challenges and firing from the edge of the box towards goal, but the Brugge goalkeeper pulled off a smart save.
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Brugge found themselves increasingly under the cosh as Louis van Gaal's side went from strength to strength, with Depay at the heart of each and every foray into the visitors' box.
Michel Preud'homme's charges then suffered a further setback when Brandon Mechele was sent off with 10 minutes to go for a second bookable offence.
Man Utd kept threatening in the latter stages of the game and were rewarded when Depay's cross fell to Fellaini, who planted a header into the bottom right corner to grab a vital third goal for his side.
Giuseppe Labellarte
