Depay relieved to break Man United duck

Memphis Depay expressed a measure of relief after scoring two memorable goals and creating another as Manchester United beat Club Brugge 3-1 in Tuesday’s Champions League play-off first leg.

A £25 million ($39.1 million, 35.2 million euros) signing from PSV Eindhoven, Depay arrived at Old Trafford with a burgeoning reputation and inherited the number seven shirt previously worn by club greats George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fitfully influential in his first two United appearances, he gave a shimmering display of his talent against Club Brugge with two brilliant first-half goals and a late cross to set up Marouane Fellaini as Louis van Gaal’s side took a big step towards a place in the group phase.

“I ended last season with a lot of goals. You come to a big club and you have to do a good job again. It is a nice feeling to score two goals at Old Trafford,” the 21-year-old Dutch international told BT Sport.

“It is really important we win the game. We created a lot of chances. I feel disappointed I could not finish the last two chances. We have to travel to Bruges and finish the job.”