Michael Owen got his Manchester United career off to a flyer on Saturday when he scored the winner on his debut United struggled past a Malaysian XI 3-2.

Manchester Utd's Michael Owen is congratulated by Ryan Giggs after scoring against Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur. pic/AFP

The ex-Newcastle and England striker, who moved to United on a free transfer, came on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney after 60 minutes with the score at 2-2 and made the most of his chance.

Wearing the club's famous number seven shirt, he pounced with five minutes left, picking up the ball just inside the box and rounding the goalkeeper before planting a right foot shot into the net. It dug United out of a hole after they let a two goal lead, courtesy of Rooney and Nani, slip.u00a0 Goalkeeping errors saw the hosts score twice through Amri Yahyah.

Man United snub Indonesia's request

Manchester United have scheduled a second match in Malaysia after rejecting a request from the Indonesian government to fulfil a fixture cancelled as a result of bomb attacks in Jakarta.

United chief executive David Gill said: "The presidential office made a plea for us to go but, after discussions with the tour organisers and the Foreign Office, we decided it was not appropriate."