As the Manchester United supporters headed away into the drizzle, there was at least a collective sense of relief that Louis van Gaal’s team had reminded themselves what it was like to win a football match. It had been a long time coming – 42 days, to be precise – and they had to endure a wretched first half. Yet the eight-match sequence without a victory, their worst run since 1990, was finally over and Wayne Rooney’s improvisational winner had soothing effects for a crowd that is used to better times. Van Gaal’s side made hard going of it at times and it still feels startling that Old Trafford, a stadium famous for its sense of high drama, has seen the lowest number of goals this season, 15, of all 92 league clubs. Staggeringly, United have not managed a first-half one in nine successive home games stretching back to 30 September and Van Gaal is being generous in the extreme when he says this team is still capable of winning the league. There was, however, an improvement during a second half when United took the lead through Anthony Martial’s header before toying with the idea of the game becoming another…