Anthony Martial introduced himself to Manchester United fans with a superb goal to complete a 3-1 win over bitter rivals Liverpool and cap a much-improved performance from Louis van Gaal's side .

Martial, a $55.54 million signing from Monaco, danced past three defenders in the 86th minute and sidefooted the ball home on his debut to put the finishing touches to a well-deserved victory.

After a dire first half that would have dampened the enthusiasm of even the most die-hard fan, a fired-up United emerged after the break to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Daley Blind curled them ahead from the edge of the area four minutes after the restart before Ander Herrera slammed a penalty into the roof of the net after Liverpool's 18-year-old full back Joe Gomez clumsily felled the Spaniard.

Liverpool hit back with six minutes remaining when Christian Benteke pulled off an acrobatic overhead kick but he was spectacularly upstaged when Martial, a second-half substitute, had the United fans drooling in anticipation of his potential.

The result gave second-placed United 10 points from five Premier League matches, five adrift of leaders Manchester City.

Liverpool are three points further back after a match that exposed some familiar defensive flaws as well as a lack of attacking spark.