Although not an injury-time effort like the one Nani produced to defeat Manchester City in the Community Shield a week earlier, there was less than 10 minutes on the clock when the Red Devils grabbed their winner at West Brom on Sunday. Young's attempt to claim his first United goal seems certain to end in failure given his cross-shot was off target until it struck the unlucky Steven Reid and ended up creeping past Ben Foster. More importantly for Young and his team-mates, though, it got the Red Devils' Premier League title defence off to a winning start. "I would rather goals came before then," said Young. "But it is always special when goals come late. Then you have to defend the lead, which is what we did. "It was always vitally important to get off to a winning start. "A lot has been said about our away form last season. If we can build on this result, I am sure we will be out to retain the title again." As United only won five times away from Old Trafford last term, they look likely to better that tally already. Indeed, it was not until their last visit to the Hawthorns on New Year's Day that Sir Alex Ferguson registered their second away success. This season, they appear far more plausible challengers, a fact acknowledged in their status as favourites and virtually unanimous selection to retain the crown. Going forward, there is certainly a fluency that has been lacking since Cristiano Ronaldo's departure. It was in evidence again on Sunday as Young set up Wayne Rooney for his 12th-minute opener. "The team has been doing that throughout pre-season," reflected Young. "It was a great team goal. We wanted to capitalise on that and continue our good work but couldn't get that second goal. "We were always going to create chances though and eventually we got the winner. I will try to claim it but it is more important to get the three points."
