Manchester United!!!!!

Shinji Kagawa scored his first goal for Manchester United as the Japanese midfielder delivered further evidence of his star quality with a stand-out performance against Shanghai Shenhua in China.

Kagawa, a £17m summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund, has already given glimpses of his ability to create a chance and break forward during the South Africa leg of United’s pre-season tour.

Shinji Kagawa was excellent in the match

But although the opposition were hardly of a Premier League standard – not helped by the unexplained absence of star players Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka – Kagawa nonetheless produced an outstanding performance in front of a crowd 42,725.

Having endured a draining 16-hour flight from Cape Town to Shanghai on Sunday, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a mixture of youth and experience against Sergio Batista’s team.

The travelling, combined with the oppressive heat inside the Shanghai Stadium, ensured it would be demanding fixture for those involved and the pace of the game was unsurprisingly slow.

With senior figures either sat on the bench or back at United’s Carrington base after returning to training late from Euro 2012 duty, youngsters such as Frederic Veseli, Robbie Brady and Powell were handed the chance to build on their promising displays so far on tour.

Sir Alex Ferguson

Italian midfielder Davide Petrucci had the first chance for United on 17 minutes when, after being released by Anderson, saw a well-struck effort from 20 yards saved by goalkeeper Fei Xiong.

Powell then wasted a good chance six minutes later when he scuffed a left-foot effort wide from 12 yards after springing the offside trap to latch onto Petrucci’s pass.

Petrucci, captain of United’s reserves last season, and Powell both suggested they could contribute to the first-team this term before being replaced at half-time by Ryan Tunnicliffe and Bebe respectively.

Prior to the interval, though, Shanghai almost scored the opener when Australian midfielder Joel Griffiths was denied by a crucial low save by Anders Lindegaard.

It was a rare Shanghai opportunity, however, with United dominating the game. Kagawa, in particular, grew in stature as the game wore on.

The Japanese midfielder excelled in his role just behind the front-line and he was unfortunate not to see Federico Macheda score from one of his passed when the Italian’s angled shot was saved on 56 minutes.

Kagawa then laid off a ball for Anderson to tee up Bebe for a half-volley that forced another good save from the Shanghai keeper.

Xiong was finally beaten on 68 minutes, however, and Kagawa scored his first goal in a United shirt.

Bebe, who scored an injury-time equaliser against Ajax Cape Town in South Africa last Saturday, did well to create the goal, beating his marker down the left flank before pulling back for Kagawa on the penalty spot.

Bebe(L) and Kagawa(R)

Kagawa then controlled the ball before beating Xiong with a right-foot shot from ten yards.

United went close to extending their lead in the closing stages, with substitute Paul Scholes heading Marnick Vermijl’s cross over the bar before Bebe forced a Xiong into a full-stretch save to keep out his powerful 25-yard effort.