Manchester United's poor run of form was brought to a convincing end as Adnan Januzaj inspired them to victory over Swansea.
The 18-year-old did not start last weekend's FA Cup third-round defeat by the Welsh side but proved his undoubted value by helping to create second-half goals for Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck.
His contribution returned David Moyes's side to winning ways as they avoided the ignominy of losing four consecutive games for the first time since 1961.
It also ended a wretched run of four defeats in their past six home games as United finished a forgettable week on a positive note.
Following their defeat by Michael Laudrup's side last Sunday, United lost in the Capital One Cup at Sunderland, with Moyes charged by the Football Association for comments about the referee after that loss.
But this was a much improved performance by the Scot's team, who moved back to within four points of fourth-placed Everton.
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup:
"I think we did well, we controlled the first half knowing that Manchester United would be a bit anxious after three consecutive losses but giving away the goal after just 90 seconds of the second half was just what we didn't want.
"They have very good players and they got on top of the game and when they got the second goal they got real belief.
"We lost the game but now we have to get some players back and win the next game. I think we are down to just 13 fit players now but we will see what happens in the week."
Lineup, Bookings (2) & Substitutions (4)
Manchester United
- 01 de Gea
- 02 Rafael
- 03 Evra (Büttner - 79' )
- 16 Carrick
- 12 Smalling
- 15 Vidic
- 25 Antonio Valencia
- 24 Fletcher
- 19 Welbeck (Hernández - 86' )
- 44 Januzaj
- 26 Kagawa
Substitutes
- 11 Giggs
- 13 Lindegaard
- 14 Hernández
- 23 Cleverley
- 28 Büttner
- 29 Zaha
- 35 Lingard
Swansea City
- 25 Tremmel
- 22 Rangel Booked
- 33 Davies
- 21 Cañas (Chico - 17' )
- 02 Amat
- 06 Williams
- 24 Pozuelo
- 07 Britton
- 10 Bony Booked
- 08 Shelvey (Alvaro - 63' )
- 15 Routledge
Substitutes
- 03 Taylor
- 04 Chico
- 13 Cornell
- 26 Alvaro
- 29 Richards
- 31 Lucas
- 41 Donnelly
Ref: Chris Foy
Att: 75,035