Raphael Varane admitted that netting his Manchester United goal was "special" after United cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 win over Brentford on Monday night.
The 29-year-old broke his Old Trafford duck to seal a routine win over the Bees in United's final home match of the season. Bruno Fernandes had fired the hosts into an early lead, before Cristiano Ronaldo doubled that advantage on the hour mark. Varane's strike 10 minutes later sealed the points for United - who bagged their biggest win under interim chief Ralf Rangnick.
Varane's thumping late volley ensured the ex-Real Madrid man opened his account for United in style. The World Cup winner was making his 28th appearance for the club he joined in a £36million deal last summer - and he could hardly hide his delight after the match.
Sharing a message with United fans on Instagram to celebrate his goal, Varane wrote: "Yesss. What a special feeling to score my first goal for this amazing club at Old Trafford!!"
After arriving at the club from Real Madrid last summer, Varane was tipped as "the signing of the summer" by Paul Merson, who was adamant that the centre-half would turn United into title contenders. However, Varane has endured a difficult maiden season in the Premier League.
The defender has been plagued by injuries this term, and when he has been fit, has also been part of a United defence that has been left badly exposed on multiple occasions.
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However, Varane and United were able to put those woes to one side at Old Trafford to put on a show for their long-suffering fans. The result also meant that Rangnick - who has just two games remaining before transitioning into a consultancy role at the end of the season - also signed off in style.
But the German wasn't content to dwell on the performance after the match and instead gave a scathing assessment of his six-month interim spell. He told BBC Sport : "I'm not completely happy with those six months. I would have expected to qualify for the Champions League; that was the goal we had.
"We lost quite a lot of important players. From the team that won against West Ham [on 22 January], for the next game three players were injured. Other teams brought in players in the window. We had good moments, we conceded fewer goals but in the last few weeks performances have not been as good as they should have been. In general, we have lacked consistency."
