Wayne Rooney was the hero for Manchester United as they won the first game of the season with a workmanlike performance at Old Trafford.
Sir Aelx Ferguson's contingent conjured the best chances in an opening twenty minutes, which saw the ever industrious Wayne Rooney attempting to force the initiative, causing havoc for the Birmingham defence by forcing Joe Hart into some fine fingertip saves.
New signing Antonio Valencia was charged with the monumental task of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo's berth on the right hand side of an attacking formation, and he started well with his pace fashioning dilemmas for the left back Vignal who was often second best.
A barrage of attacks from the Champions dominated most of the first period, and Darren Fletcher proficiently remained the deeper of a midfield duo, which gave license to the likes of Fabio, playing at right full-back to bomb forward.
Manchester United Snatch The Advantage
On 34 minutes, the deadlock was broken when a pinpoint delivery from Nani was placed onto Rooney's head, following some neat interplay, though while his original effort struck the post, he was able to competently convert the close range rebound.
Just minutes after the goal, Cameron Jerome attempted to force the issue for the away oufit cutting inside and pulling the trigger as his low shot deflected dangerously wide. From the resulting corner, Fabrice Evra cleared brilliantly off the line with his head, when Frank Quedrue met Larsson's corner with aerial precision.
Right on the stroke of half time, Nani and Evra combined superbly in the left channel and the Frenchman's cutback from the by-line was squandered by Darren Fletcher from five yards out as his shot flew wide.
Manchester United Adapting To A New System
Ryan Giggs was introduced to the game for the start of the second half, coming on for Nani. Just seconds after the interval, Rooney pounced onto a 40 yard right foot volley, and nearly caught Joe Hart off-guard as the ball whistled off his gloves. The England international continued to pose a threat, linking up well with Berbatov in attack.
Manchester United's incessant interchanging was on occasions too much for Birmingham who seemed to struggle with no real leader, despite the ageing legs of Lee Carsley in the heart of midfield.
Sebastion Larsson and James McFadden interlinked immediately after the hour mark, and the latter went close to equalising for the away side, forcing an instinctive save from Ben Foster.
Garry O'Connor came on for Cameron Jerome, to add some more creativity to Birmingham's midfield which appeared to hail a spell of five minute dominance for the blues, however United coped well with the absence of first choice centre-half partnership Ferdinand and Vidic and kept them goalless.
United Hold Nerve In Tense Climax
Michael Owen was brought on with 20 minutes to go, to resume his ex-England partnership with Wayne Rooney, in a period of changes which also saw Wes Brown come on for Jonny Evans, and new Birmingham signing Christian Benitez come on in place of Lee Carsley.
However it was the Ecuadorian who made the inaugural impact, as he was released through on goal, only to produce a world class save from Ben Foster. With the influential Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs pulling the strings in midfield for United, the Welshman crossed superbly for Rooney late on who's glancing header just eluded the far post to go wide.
Michael Owen was gifted a superb chance to open his account in injury time, when Rooney chested a slick through-ball for his strike partner, and having put the ball into the net seconds earlier from an offside position, he could only hit the legs of Joe Hart with his second opportunity while the ball richoted wide in front of the Stretford End.
As the game was brought to a close, Sir Alex Ferguson will just be relieved to have won, after a resolute performance at Old Trafford.
