United enjoy Champions League win as Rooney saga rumbles on

Manchester United shrugged off the disappointment of Wayne Rooney’s imminent departure to defeat Turkish side Bursaspor 1-0 in the Champions League here Wednesday.

A sublime first-half goal from Portuguese international Nani clinched victory for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men on a day when events off the pitch dominated the headlines at Old Trafford.

The victory left the English giants comfortably on course to qualify from Group C, with seven points from three games, two clear of Rangers who drew with Valencia in Glasgow.

Rooney, who had been injured in training on Tuesday, had dropped another bombshell shortly before kick-off when he accused United of lacking ambition in a statement where he confirmed his intention to quit.

Ferguson was initially reluctant to dwell on the subject after the match, saying the club intended to formally address Rooney’s comments on Thursday.

“We don’t want this to be a saga,” said Ferguson, who expressed satisfaction with the performance of Nani.

“He’s got better, that’s a great thing, and he’s added a goal ratio to his game which is important,” Ferguson said.

“He’s got great feet, courage, he’s quick – a lot of things are coming together for him.”

Ferguson acknowledged disappointment that United’s margin of victory was not greater. “We could have pushed on better but I think we did the job well in terms of the intensity of our game,” he said.

“We controlled the whole match, I think they had one shot with two minutes to go or something like that, but we could have done better in terms of last-third play.

“I didn’t think they could score, our defensive concentration was very good,” he added.

Bursaspor coach Ertugrul Saglam admitted the defeat had left his team’s struggling to qualify following Rangers and Valencia’s draw.

“We have to win our last three games to have a chance,” he said. “At a minimum we must win two of our games and draw the other.”

While United dominated possession for long periods, a starting midfield featuring Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson was rarely able to conjure up the guile to break down the Turkish champions.

Federico Macheda struggled to impose himself in attack and it was left to Nani to provide much of the attacking threat before a crowd of 72,610.

United were barely threatened by the visitors in the opening exchanges, stroking the ball around comfortably against opponents who appeared to be suffering a bad case of stage-fright.

The opener came after Fletcher found Nani just outside the area. The elusive winger turned his man brilliantly and ghosted towards goal before curling a superb shot beyond Dimitar Ivankov.

Ivankov had been forewarned of the United threat after only three minutes, Anderson sending Macheda bearing down on goal with a deft pass only for the Italian to see his shot well saved.

Yet United’s early promise fizzled out after Nani scored, and for all their slick approach play Ferguson’s men were unable to created many goalscoring opportunities. All too often the final ball went astray and United attacks broke down.

With Bursaspor defending deep, the visitors looked for opportunities on the counter-attack and had United on the back foot on 30 minutes when a slip by Nemanja Vidic allowed Ozan Ipek to break.

Fullback Rafael — one of United’s best performers on the night — was alive to the danger however, covering well to snuff out the threat.

The introduction of Gabriel Obertan and Mexican international Javier Hernandez gave United more thrust later in the second half but the home fans had to settle for victory by a solitary goal.