Manchester United bounced brilliantly from their shock 2-0 loss to Hull City on the opening day to record a dominant 5-2 victory over Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon to kickstart their Premier League campaign.

United were quick out of the blocks, with the home side squandering a couple of good chances in the opening 25 minutes, but failed to offer any serious threat to the Ipswich goal.

Despite looking dominant, it was the visitors who struck first, with Leif Davis finishing excellently past Senne Lammens after some poor defending from Luke Shaw to give Ipswich an unlikely lead. Luckily for United, a slip from Marcelino Núñez allowed Matheus Cunha to play an excellent ball through to Bruno Fernandes on the counter to bring parity to the scoreline before the half-time break.

United came out with renewed purpose after the break and were rewarded when a deflected Harry Maguire effort ended up in the Ipswich goal. Fernandes then added another from the penalty spot, putting United firmly in control.

The captain wasn’t finished there. When a Bryan Mbeumo shot took a deflection, Fernandes reacted quickly, brought the ball under control and produced a composed finish to complete his hat-trick. With the result all but secured, he turned provider once again, sending Mbeumo through on goal. The forward made no mistake, lifting the ball over the goalkeeper to round off a 5-2 victory.

Just five days removed from being named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year after breaking the Premier League assist record last season, Bruno Fernandes put aside a disappointing opening game display against Hull to once again remind everyone why he is both United’s best player and one of the best players in the league.

The club captain was on hand to give his side the equaliser before the half-time break with an excellent finish, before coolly dispatching his second-half penalty despite missing a couple in pre-season.

The 31-year-old then found himself in the right place at the right time to get on the end of a deflected Bryan Mbeumo shot to achieve his third hat-trick at United. A Bruno Fernandes performance wouldn’t be complete without an assist, doing just that with a magnificent ball over the top to Mbeumo, as the Portuguese superstar opened up his assist tally for the season.

While United were statistically dominant in the first, keeping 60% possession, they failed to create many clear-cut chances that tested the Ipswich keeper. However, Carrick’s side emerged for the second half with a clear point to prove.

Manchester United ramped up the pressure on the newly-promoted side, not giving them any room to breathe, which was rewarded when Harry Maguire’s shot was deflected in for a Jacob Greaves own-goal. 

Just five minutes later, Bruno Fernandes converted a spot kick to give the home side plenty of breathing room for the rest of the half, and from then on, the floodgates opened, as United dominated the remainder of the second half, adding another two goals to their tally.

At 5-1 up, United seemingly got complacent, as they allowed substitute Chuba Akpom to score a consolation goal, as the game ended 5-2.

Luke Shaw struggled throughout the game, with Ipswich almost getting their opening goal from a counter-attack when the left-back, who had a decent head start, was beaten to the ball by Julio Enciso, whose effort was saved by Senne Lammens. 

The 31-year-old struggled to cope with Abdul Fatawu on the Ipswich wing, and was easily beaten by the Ghanaian before assisting for Leif Davis’ opening goal for the visitors.

Davis almost got a second minutes later, but this time Diego Dalot left the left-back unmarked at the back post, seeing his effort, which was probably easier to score than his goal, saved.

Noussair Mazraoui came on with just over 15 minutes to go and was decent, but it still doesn't change the fact that United simply have to buy a left-back as the transfer deadline rapidly approaches.

Starting his first game for Manchester United in 626 days, Marcus Rashford made his return to Old Trafford with a point to prove to the United faithful, and he certainly showed some promising signs.

The winger looked dangerous out on the left, and almost had a tap-in into an open net, but he just missed Matheus Cunha’s fizzed ball across the box. In the second half, the 28-year-old also had a good effort saved by the Ipswich goalkeeper, and almost scored a stunning goal after dribbling past three Ipswich players before being substituted in the 80th minute.

Last season, we saw how dangerous Michael Carrick’s side was against teams that play on the front foot, as they beat Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool to finish third in the league.

While it is important to be able to beat the sides around them, who are competing for a top-four finish, United will face many more sides who will utilise a low block as opposed to those who will go toe to toe with Carrick’s side in the league.

United spent heavily on their midfield in the transfer window, with the acquisition of Youri Tielemans expected to be one made to help break down defensive systems with his excellent passing, but his struggles in his first two Manchester United appearances certainly haven’t helped.

The 5-2 scoreline will certainly quell some concerns from the United faithful after looking significantly more dangerous in the second half, but the defeat to Hull and the first half performance against Ipswich certainly exposed some weaknesses that have to be addressed.