Before Saturday, Manchester United had not lost a league opener at home since 1972 and Swansea had never won a league game at Old Trafford, but the Swans stunned Louis van Gaal and Manchester United 2-1 to (temporarily) move to the top of the league.
In his first Premier League game as manager, Louis van Gaal picked out a surprising lineup and used a brand new 3-4-1-2 formation — which they abandoned at halftime. Expected starters Robin van Persie and Luke Shaw were unavailable due to injury, and Jesse Lingard was forced out of the game after just 24 minutes, throwing a wrench in van Gaal’s plans.
Swansea’s Ki Sung-yueng scored the first goal of the year in the 28th minute, leading the Swansea fans in Old Trafford to give van Gaal the David Moyes treatment.
Wayne Rooney equalized in the second half with a brilliant scissor kick goal off a corner kick, but Swansea regained the lead in the 72nd minute. Jefferson Montero pulled the ball back to Gylfi Sigurdsson in the center of the box, and David De Gea couldn’t hold on to Sigurdsson’s shot.
