Sir Alex Ferguson praised Wayne Rooney's display in an unaccustomed central midfield role in Manchester United's 2-0 win over Otelul Galati.
The England international played in a withdrawn position in the weekend win over Everton and found himself alongside Anderson for Wednesday night's Champions League Group C match at Old Trafford because of injuries to Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley while Darren Fletcher is working his way back to fitness. Rooney responded by dictating from deep as it was his long diagonal pass which started the build-up to Antonio Valencia's eighth-minute goal and he rounded off a laboured team performance with a hugely-deflected goal late one. "I think he was our best player. He showed great awareness of that role," said Ferguson. "His selection of passes at times was very good and showed great energy and determination - we got a really good performance out of him tonight"We had injuries and that is one of the reasons we played him there. "Cleverley is injured, Carrick is injured, Darren Fletcher played on Saturday but it was better he played next Saturday. Victory put United top of Group C from Benfica, who visit Old Trafford next later this month. It puts the Red Devils in pole position to qualify for the knockout stage. "We've won the game and it has put us in the position where if we win that we've won the group so that is the incentive for us," added Ferguson. "Given the history between both clubs (us and Benfica) it should be a good night, a good atmosphere, a really big game and we can look forward to that one.
The only downside was an injury to Michael Owen, who lasted just 10 minutes before limping off. "It's a blow for the lad. He's done a thigh muscle and it's a complete freak," said the United boss. "I feel for him. It's difficult to say how long-term it is." Otelul coach Dorinel Munteanu was disappointed with the final result as he felt his side did well at Old Trafford.
