Manchester United began their Premier League campaign in style with a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle.
Dimitar Berbatov was handed a starting berth alongside Wayne Rooney and responded by drilling home an excellent 33rd-minute effort at Old Trafford.
The Bulgarian should have had another goal after half-time but, after Darren Fletcher had doubled the Red Devils' advantage shortly before the break, it was evergreen substitute Ryan Giggs who extended his remarkable record of scoring in every Premier League season when he latched on to Paul Scholes' inspired pass and sent a first-time volley bouncing past Steve Harper.
The only real disappointment for United was another blank day for Wayne Rooney, who has now gone 13 matches for club and country since he last scored, against Bayern Munich in March.
After the game Scholes, who shone in midfield throughout the clash, felt Manchester United could have scored more but was content with the 3-0 scoreline.
"The most important thing is to win the game," Scholes told Sky Sports 1. "Maybe we could have scored more but we'll take a 3-0 win on the first day of the season.
"Newcastle came, set their stall out and defended deep. Once we got the goal we were a constant threat.
"A lot of teams come here and try to make it difficult. We just had to tire them out as much as we could.
"Second half especially, I really enjoyed that: creating chances, looking like we were going to score whenever we went forward."
On Giggs' strike, which the Welshman finished following a fine team move, he added: "It was a great goal to watch. We kept the ball well and it was a fantastic goal to start off with."