Fedrico Macheda gives Manchester United a narrow win over South African club, AmaZulu

The long road to Premier League revenge and redemption began far from home for Manchester United on Wednesday as they launched their tour of South Africa with victory in the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Surprisingly, the architect of their victory was Dimitar Berbatov who is perhaps fortunate to be on this tour after publicly calling for Ferguson to sell him before the squad flew out on Monday.

Berbatov was at the heart of United's best moves and set up Macheda in the 20th minute with a neat pass, the Italian applying the finish by slipping the ball under the body of goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini.

The goal was United's reward for a dominant opening but a team containing several fresh faces in Frederic Vaseli, Scott Wootton, Robbie Brady and the impressive Jesse Lingard - and playing in the questionable new gingham-style kit - came under more pressure as AmaZulu grew in confidence, and Anders Lindegaard had to produce key saves from Ayanda Dlamini and Carlington Nyadombo to preserve the lead.

Despite all the changes made by both teams, Ferguson kept Shinji Kagawa on the bench until the 89th minute when the Japan international received a huge ovation.

United's other new signing Nick Powell did not feature at all but will hope to play a part in Saturday's second game against Ajax Cape Town.