Anthony Martial scored the only goal of the match as Manchester United recorded a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade in Thursday's Europa League contest in Serbia.

A first-half penalty from the French forward proved the difference between the two teams as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side recorded their first away victory in any competition since March.

The Red Devils have now moved to the top of Group L on seven points, meaning that they are just one win away from booking their spot in the knockout round of the competition.

On-loan Roma forward Umar Sadiq was the standout player in the early stages of the contest, with the number nine causing United's back three - which consisted of Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Harry Maguire - plenty of problems.

James Garner was given the responsibility of playing at the base of the midfield on his full debut for the club, while the likes of Scott McTominay, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard were operating in support of Martial, with the latter starting his first match since the end of August.

United had a golden chance to take the lead in the 15th minute when a free kick from Mata landed on the head of McTominay, but the Scotland international could only head into the side-netting.

McTominay also had the next opportunity in the 22nd minute after breaking deep into the home side's half of the field, but the 22-year-old's low strike was always drifting wide.

Not much was happening down the other end, though, with Maguire - sporting the captain's armband on his European debut - marshalling the back three under little pressure.

Partizan did have a few chances to cause problems on the counter-attack as the match approached its 30-minute mark, but the hosts were guilty of making a number of poor decisions in the final third of the field.

Zoran Tosic had the home side's first serious attempt of the match 10 minutes before the end of the first period, but the former United attacker saw his strike miss Sergio Romero's goal.

Lingard then curled one against the bottom of the post down the other end, with United having their best chance of the first period shortly before the half-time interval.

The post was then rattled down the other end with Sadiq doing brilliantly to find space in a dangerous position before attempting to pick out the far corner with a super strike.

Partizan had another chance moments later with Takuma Asano poking wide of the post from a dangerous position, before United managed to make the breakthrough just before the interval.

Indeed, the visitors were awarded a penalty when Brandon Williams was brought to the ground by Nemanja Miletic, and Martial stepped forward to send Solskjaer's team 1-0 ahead in the 43rd minute.

Partizan had an opportunity to level the scores moments after the break with Jones's rash challenge on Sadiq handing the home side a free kick in a very dangerous position, but central midfielder Bibras Natcho could only fire wide of Romero's post.

It was all Partizan in the early stages of the second period with Seydouba Soumah causing a number of problems; the attacker wanted a penalty in the 49th minute after going down under a challenge from Jones but the referee was not interested.

Romero then had to make a brilliant save to keep out a strike from Soumah after the number 20 had worked a shooting opportunity with a fine piece of skill outside the United box.

Marcus Rashford and Daniel James both came off the away side's bench on the hour mark, which was not a surprise as the changes occurred during a spell of strong pressure from Partizan.

The hosts had another penalty shout in the 66th minute when Natcho delivered from a wide position, but McTominay was barely three yards away from the midfielder and therefore play continued. Miletic then picked up a yellow card for dissent after claiming that Williams had also handled inside the box.

Sadiq curled just wide of the post before Partizan made their first change of the match, 17-year-old Filip Stevanovic taking the place of Tosic, who struggled to make his mark against his former club.

Andreas Pereira then came off the United bench, but it was the home side that continued to force the issue and Romero had to prevent a close-range Asano header from finding the back of the net.

Partizan continued to force the issue late on, with Natcho firing just over the crossbar from a dangerous position; United held on, though, to pick up a hugely important three points.

The Red Devils are back in Premier League action away to Norwich City on Sunday, while Partizan will continue their league campaign at home to Spartak Subotica on the same afternoon.

PARTIZAN BELGRADE (4-4-2): Stojkovic; Urosevic, Pavlovic, Ostojic, Miletic; Tosic (Stevanovic 75'), Natcho, Zdjelar, Soumah (Pavlovic 83'); Asano (Ivanovic 92'), Sadiq

MANCHESTER UNITED (3-5-2): Romero; Maguire, Rojo, Jones; Wan-Bissaka (James 60'), McTominay, Garner (Pereira 81'), Mata, Williams; Lingard, Martial (Rashford 60')