Rooney keeps title hunt alive

Man Utd 2 Arsenal 0

Despite his tender years, the 20-year-old striker produced yet another mesmerising performance at Old Trafford to put Arsenal to the sword and maintain United's hopes of wrestling the Premiership trophy from Jose Mourinho's grasp.

Rooney had woken to tabloid headlines yesterday suggesting he had racked up mammoth gambling debts, but if he was affected by the latest probe into his private life, it didn't show on the pitch.

Alex Ferguson said: "Wayne was absolutely sensational at times, but he'll be the first to say that everybody else also pulled their weight.

"The headlines about him were absolute rubbish, but Wayne is just getting the same treatment as George Best, Gazza and David Beckham.

"This win gives us an outstanding chance of the league, though, and the game at Chelsea will be a decider if we keep winning our games. They have some tough games to play, so we still have things in our favour."

Regardless of the enmity between the two sides, Arsenal still have a fight on their hands to claim fourth position and the final Champions League spot, so they needed victory just as much as United.

Strange then, that Arsene Wenger opted to start with the inspirational Thierry Henry on the bench. Still, the Gunners made the brighter start and both Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie went close inside the opening 10 minutes.

The first half was a tale of near misses with neither side carving out a clear-cut opportunity until Ruud van Nistelrooy released Rooney inside the Arsenal penalty area with a sublime defence-splitting pass two minutes before the interval. Rooney danced past the grasping arms of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann before squaring up for a side-foot strike into the gaping goal.

Rooney shot goalwards, but defender Kolo Toure clearly diverted the ball onto the near post with his hand.

Rooney screamed at referee Graham Poll for a penalty, but the official waved play on.

Having shaded the first half, United deservedly broke the deadlock when Rooney left Lehmann helpless with a blistering half-volley on 54 minutes.

Nemanja Vidic's challenge on Van Persie close to the halfway line released the ball to Mikael Silvestre and the French defender picked out Rooney inside the penalty area with an excellent cross. Two touches later, the ball was in the back of the net.

Arsenal had to respond quickly and Wenger threw on Henry, but Rooney again made a crucial intervention when he teed up the second goal for Ji-Sung Park on 78 minutes.

After a powerful run down the right, Rooney squared to Park at the far post and the Korean gratefully claimed his first Premiership goal.

It sealed the points and left Wenger admitting Arsenal's Champions League hopes had been hit.

He said: "United were physically stronger than us and they deserved to win, but our chances [of qualifying for the Champions League] have diminished today. It is still in our hands mathematically. We cannot afford to drop many more points, though."

Opta Fact: Wayne Rooney's 54th minute goal was the first goal Arsenal have conceded across all competitions in 428 minutes of football.

Opta Fact: Arsenal have failed to score in six of their last eight meetings with Man Utd in all competitions.

MAN UTD: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Ronaldo, O'Shea, Giggs, Park (Evra 84), Rooney, van Nistelrooy (Saha 62).

ARSENAL: Lehmann, Eboue, Senderos, Toure, Flamini, Hleb (Ljungberg 74), Fabregas (Diaby 69), Silva, Pires, Van Persie (Henry 69), Adebayor.

Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).