Life without Rooney starts with win over Bursaspor

Manchester United 1 Bursaspor 0. It wasn't pretty but it was a win, one that gives Manchester United control of Group C at the halfway point of the Champions League pool stage. With Rangers held to a draw by Valencia at Ibrox, United top the group with seven points, two more than the Scottish champions who are second.

There was a subdued atmosphere in Old Trafford as the two teams emerged with many fans still absorbing Wayne Rooney's press statement two hours earlier confirming his desire to leave the club. But judging from the banners on display, the fans have taken Alex Ferguson's stand in the dispute and all eyes will be on the United manager today when he meets David Gill, the club's chief executive, to discuss Rooney's wish to leave Old Trafford.

Ferguson boldly chose an inexperienced XI to start against the Turkish visitors, with Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Edwin Van Der Sar all rested, and Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez on the bench, but his selection appeared justified when Nani scored a dream goal after just minutes. Dispossessing a Bursaspor player in the middle of the visitors' half, the Portuguese winger surged upfield, jinked to his left and curled a 25-yard shot around the despairing right-hand of Dimitar Ivankov in the Bursaspor goal.

It was the sort of goal Wayne Rooney might have scored in his pomp but unfortunately for United fans it marked the high point of their evening as their side failed to capitalise on their early advantage. Nemanja Vidic should have headed United further in front a few minutes later but was off target and the Serb then gave away possession in his own half to Ali Tandogan. Luckily for the Reds' captain, Rafael tracked back and made a vital tackle just as the Turk was about to pull the trigger.

The second-half was a drab affair, mirroring the emotions of the United fans, who were relieved to come away from Old Trafford with a win. Victory against Bursaspor in Turkey in a fortnight's time should ensure the safe passage of United into the last 16 of the competition. But when Ferguson faced reporters after the match, few of the questions concerned United's victory; instead it was the Rooney affair concentrating everybody's mind, including Ferguson's. "I've not read the whole of Rooney's statement," he said, adding: "We will consider it all on Thursday because David Gill and I have a meeting at 10am. David spoke to the owners tonight which is important. The important issue is we have the team to consider, we have an important game on Sunday and that's going to be the end of it today. We will carry on and dismiss everything else."

But when reporters refused to accept Ferguson's insistence that the matter was closed for the time being, the Scot began to lose his temper: "I am not going on with this all night. Stop it now," snapped Ferguson. "It is a European game... I am concentrating on the game. Failing that, forget it." But pressed on whether Rooney would regret his decision to leave United, Ferguson couldn't help but dip into Eric Cantona's book of football philosophy. "Sometimes you look in a field and see a cow," the manager told reporters, in scenes reminiscent of the 1995 moment when Cantona waxed lyrical about seagulls. "You think it is a better cow than the one you see in your field. It never really works out that way." Wise words, but probably too wise for Rooney. ·