LONDON: Manchester United crashed to a disastrous Premier League opening game when they were sent packing 1-0 by Everton at  Goodison Park this morning - as £22million newly-signed Robin van Persie sat on the bench until the final stages.  

United manager Alex Ferguson was left scratching his head as midfielder Marouane Fellaini’s 57th minute bullet header gave Everton a deserved victory.

Van Persie (pic) came on with only  22 minutes left - but Ferguson was fuming at the service his Dutch superstar received.

“We played around him too much. We didn’t show enough penetration and, with Robin in your side, you know you want to use his ability against the centerbacks. But we didn’t use him enough,” moaned Ferguson.

Ferguson, suffering his first opening-game defeat in eight years, was also upset that referee Andre Marriner favored the Toffees.

“I thought Danny Welbeck maybe was pushed as he went in the box. That was a big moment," he blasted.

“It’s difficult here, you have the crowd influencing the referee all the time and it makes it difficult for you.

“Fellaini is a handful. He is a big, tall, gangly lad and they just lumped the ball forward to him - that’s all they did. We were the better football team.”