Sunday 20 August 2017 00:10, UK
Manchester United continued their storming start to the season with a second consecutive 4-0 win as they saw off Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
It is the first time in 110 years that United have scored four or more goals in their opening two league games of a season and only the second time in top-flight history that any side has won by four or more goals to nil in those games.
Eric Bailly, Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial got the goals for Jose Mourinho's side, adding to the already optimistic mood at the club. Here, we pick out four more positives for Manchester United…
Nemanja Matic got much of the praise after the opening weekend win over West Ham and his partnership with Pogba once again looked solid at Swansea. Both offer a physical presence, Pogba pushing that to the limit with two first-half fouls, but it is the chance to change things up by moving the Frenchman further forwards that adds a new dynamic.
For the second game in a row, Pogba ran through to score late on following the introduction of Marouane Fellaini in a deeper role. It is reminiscent of the way that Manchester City used Yaya Toure - moving him into more advanced areas as the game opened up. Pogba looks capable of playing both roles within the same game and that gives Mourinho more options.
The mockery that greeted Lukaku's missed chance during the European Super Cup defeat against Real Madrid highlighted the added attention on the forward following his arrival at Old Trafford. As a result, a quick start was required and he has certainly produced it - scoring in each of his first three appearances for the club.
Although Lukaku endured a relatively quiet game at the Liberty Stadium, he finished confidently to double the lead and looks in determined mood. "I am telling you that guy is driven," said Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry, Lukaku's coach with the Belgium national team. "He knows what he wants to do." It has been a brilliant start.
Having scored in both of the first two matches, Lukaku and Pogba will earn plenty of plaudits but the man of the match was Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The attacking midfielder got only one Premier League assist in 24 appearances last season. After getting two against West Ham last week, he delivered another two to take the game away from Swansea.
The Armenian is a delightful player who grew into his role at both Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund - each time producing his best returns in his third campaigns there. The early signs are that Mkhitaryan is ready now. He spoke of "luck" and "team spirit" being factors in the improvement afterwards but his high quality was obvious against the Swans.
Amid the late flurries of goals in each of the first two games, United's defensive solidity could easily be overlooked. Although Jordan Ayew's mishit cross struck the underside of David de Gea's crossbar early on, this was another fine display with the partnership between Bailly and Phil Jones looking particularly promising.
Victor Lindelof was the big-money buy but keeping Phil Jones could prove just as important. He dealt well with the threat of Tammy Abraham after coping with the pace of Javier Hernandez last time out. Jones and Bailly started only one game as a pairing last season - a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace - but Mourinho may have belatedly found his best partnership.
