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| Chris Smalling celebrates scoring the second goal for Manchester United |
THERE are some players, such as Anthony Martial, who arrive at Old Trafford and hit the ground running. Others, like Juan Mata, need a little time before finding their feet.
For Manchester United, the wait is proving worthwhile. After initially finding themselves choking in the vapour trail of a side sponsored by Volkswagen, it was Mata who inspired the comeback with a penalty, and a cute assist for Chris Smalling, to check Wolfsburg and reapply some much-needed polish to the Premier League's brand.
United will now consider themselves back on track in Europe as well as being top of the league in England. That their revival is gathering pace was in no small part due to the Spaniard, who has started the campaign full of goals and assists and sprinkled stardust here from start to finish.
That United came from behind against German opponents, and then withstood a nervy finale in which Morgan Schneiderlin was fortunate not to be sent off, allowed them to display the sort of character that will continue to be tested.
Yet after that opening Group B defeat to PSV Eindhoven a fortnight ago, this was more about the result than the performance and it will be of no surprise to Louis van Gaal that aspects of this display lacked composure.
It was not just defensively that they were generous, though the memory of the slapdash lead they gifted to the visitors lingered and confirmed there remains something unconvincing about United's rearguard.
Antonio Valencia did not make it out for the second-half having inexplicably played Daniel Caligiuri yards onside as he dispatched Max Kruse's ball, the sixth pass of a flowing move, in just the fourth minute.
Yet the manner in which the scorer initially wriggled away from Matteo Darmian and Danny Blind on United's left set the tone for a ragged passage which resulted in the sort of goal guaranteed to drive Van Gaal to distraction. United's response was far more convincing with Mata coming to the fore and conducting the orchestra. Suddenly, the £37.1m Chelsea received for the diminutive play-maker does not seem such good value.
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| Bastian Schweinsteiger put in a good performance in midfield |
He had seen Dante head clear after flinging himself in front of a curling, left-foot strike destined for the top corner before adding impetus to a counter-attack with a impudent back heel mid-way in United's half to release Rooney.
Rooney sprayed a raking pass out to Anthony Martial, who kept drifting into pockets of space on the right, and watched him surge beyond Ricardo Rodriguez before cutting the ball back to where his team-mate was now waiting.
Just seven yards out, the captain scooped his effort wastefully over the crossbar.
Soon after, a precise 30-yard pass from Mata picked out Memphis Depay, who wasted a glaring headed opportunity, and it was almost as if United's No8 decided at that point enough was enough.
It was Mata's cross that struck the out-stretched left arm of Caligiuri just inside the penalty area and his assured, left-footed spot-kick which found the corner with Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio committed the other way.
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| Wolfsburg celebrate taking the lead at Old Trafford |
The momentum lay with United at the break and it took them just eight minutes to assume the ascendancy with more sublime majesty from Mata.
Bastian Schweinsteiger's mis-hit shot after Naldo had headed clear a cross from substitute Ashley Young sat up invitingly for Mata and the audacious back-heel flick that followed was not simply delivered in blind hope.
Credit Smalling, played onside by Dante, for a smart sliding finish that owed more to the instincts of a striker than a centre-half, but it was Mata who had the presence of create the opening out of a dead-end. That there remained some nervous moments appears par for the course for United on Champions League nights and the progression Van Gaal alluded to in the build-up will be to cut out the sense of panic.
Substitute Andre Schurrle, once of Chelsea, dragged a shot across the face of goal and Rooney then blocked a goalbound effort from Dante.
Had Schneiderlin, booked in the first-half for a foul on Naldo, been cautioned as he should have for dragging down Julian Draxler with four minutes left then United would have ended a man down.
Instead, they will consider themselves to be up and running.
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| Juan Mata slots home United's first goal |
That attack had been given momentum by an impudent flick from Mata in midfield, the same player picking out Memphis Depay for a headed opportunity that was wasted soon after.
So there was little surprise that when parity was restored, it had Mata’s fingerprints all over it. It was his cross that struck the out-stretched left arm of Caligiuri just inside the penalty area and his assured, left-foot finish that dispatched the spot-kick into the corner with Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio committed the other way.
When he tricked his way beyond Naldo and Maximilian Arnold in the 37th minute and swept a pass to Depay, it should have resulted in a goal. Instead, Benaglio saved Depay’s effort with his legs.
The assist for the second goal eight minutes after the break was sublime. Bastian Schweinsteiger’s mis-hit shot after Naldo had headed clear a cross from substitute Ashley Young sat up invitingly for Mata and the audacious back-heel flick that followed was not simply delivered in blind hope.
Credit Smalling, played onside by Dante, for a smart sliding finish that owed more to the instincts of a striker than a centre-half, but it was Mata who had the presence of create the opening out of a dead-end. That there remained some nervous moments appears par for the course for United on Champions League nights and part of the improvement Van Gaal had alluded to in the build up.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Valencia (Young 45), Smalling, Blind, Darmian; Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger (Jones 72); Mata, Rooney, Depay (Pereira 62); Martial.
Booked: Schneiderlin, Depay, Young
Goals: Mata (pen 34), Smalling (53)
Next Up: Arsenal (a) PL Sun
Wolfsburg (4-2-3-1): Benaglio; Trasch (Jung 77), Naldo, Dante, Rodriguez; Guilavogui, Arnold (Schurrle 69); Caligiuri, Kruse, Draxler; Dost (Bendtner 69).
Goal: Caligiuri (4)
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
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