
A Wayne Rooney hat-trick helped Manchester United to a 4-1 win against Portsmouth in an eventful encounter at soggy Fratton Park.
The England striker converted two disputed penalties and finished off a superb counter-attack, before Ryan Giggs netted his 100th Premier League goal with a late free-kick.
Kevin-Prince Boateng found the net for the home side - also with a controversial spot-kick.
So Avram Grant's career picked up where it left off; losing on penalties to United in the rain.
Eighteen months ago, the Israeli was sacked as Chelsea boss after an epic Champions League final shoot-out defeat in Moscow.
In his first game in charge of the Premier League's bottom side, United again prevailed but needed some questionable decisions from referee Mike Dean to help them.
Tomasz Kuszczak was surprisingly picked in goal for United, with England's Ben Foster on the bench and Edwin van der Sar absent entirely - still suffering the after-effects of a knock to the knee last weekend.
After a nervous start, the Pole excelled himself, making a superb close-range save from Aruna Dindane and an even better one to tip Jamie O'Hara's volley over.
But Dean proved the central figure. First he pointed to the spot when Rooney stumbled past Michael Brown and made the most of minimal contact on 25 minutes.
While not an outright dive, it was a soft penalty and the England man stepped up to place the kick into the right corner past Asmir Begovic, standing in for the injured David James.
If Pompey felt aggrieved, the sentiment did not last long. Just after the half-hour mark, Kuszczak leapt to punch clear a high ball into the net and Dean mystifyingly awarded a spot-kick.
Neither side had any idea what the supposed infringement was, but a forensic examination of replays shows Nemanja Vidic and Frederic Piquionne were indulging in some mild mutual shirt-tugging.
It was still a baffling decision, since Piquionne was just as guilty as Vidic, but Boateng duly converted from 12 yards.
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