MANCHESTER UNITED survived a late Sheffield United comeback to win 3-2 and secure a sixth away Premier League victory at Bramall Lane.

They were phenomenal going forward throughout, proving too much for their hosts, who have now recorded the worst ever top-flight start to a season in English football, having taken just one point and scored seven goals from 13 games.

Dean Henderson, in for David de Gea, gifted the club he spent the previous two seasons with on loan the opening goal after just five minutes. Another former Blade, Harry Maguire, played a backpass and he was dispossessed by Ollie Burke. The ball fell to David McGoldrick, who tapped into the empty net.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his side and Henderson for their mentality in recovering from such a disastrous start.

“The start was so sloppy,” he told reporters on Zoom.

“We knew exactly what was going to happen, we’d spoken about [Sheffield United] and it happened. We jogged around the pitch and that is not good enough.

“But then, the character is fantastic, by every single one of us. We started playing, it is a test for Dean, making a mistake like this, and he passed it with flying colours.”

Sander Berge was forced off with a hamstring injury soon after and replaced by Phil Jagielka, but the hosts kept pushing and went close when Jon Fleck fired wide.

Manchester United levelled out of nothing on 26 minutes. Marcus Rashford took Victor Lindelof’s searching ball in his stride before lashing past Aaron Ramsdale.

Anthony Martial was denied by a last-ditch John Egan tackle just after the half-hour mark, but he found the net two minutes later. Paul Pogba picked him out with a superb pass, which bounced awkwardly in front of Ramsdale and allowed Martial an easy finish.

The visitors quickly picked up where they left off after the break when Rashford finished off a sublime team move. It all began with Pogba and continued after referee Michael Oliver played advantage when Jagielka fouled Mason Greenwood. From there, Martial and Alex Telles combined before the England forward slid home expertly.

Bruno Fernandes almost created a fourth for the Red Devils with around 15 minutes remaining; he played a searching ball for substitute Juan Mata, who crossed for Martial, but his shot was blocked.

The latter pair linked up again almost instantly, this time in reverse, but Mata’s effort was deflected away too.

Sheffield United kept plugging away and McGoldrick pulled one back late on. It was a bizarre moment, as he deflected Lindelof’s headed clearance from a corner past Henderson.

Lys Mousset forced Henderson into a stoppage-time save but Wilder’s men’s historic wait for a first Premier League win of the campaign continues.

Despite the result, Wilder saw cause for optimism after a stronger performance.

“Ole and his coaching staff and his players would have said we would try and make it competitive tonight, and in a lot of ways it was,” he said.

“It was front foot, it was aggressive. We are disappointed with the goals we’ve conceded. We had an opportunity that we have to do better with, but the couple of goals that turned the game on its head were really preventable from our point of view.”