Rangers 0 - 1 Man United: Rooney Scores Winner as United Stay Top

As Wayne Rooney ran with clenched fists screaming and moving his head wildly towards the Manchester United fans, you could be forgiven for thinking that he was about to knock every one of the boo boys out in a massive punch up. He had actually just scored the winner for Manchester United against Rangers in the Champions League, and he was positively animated, overjoyed, and most probably relieved that he had scored a goal at last.

(WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE GOAL BELOW)

For the most part, Rooney looked so much better than previous performances this season. He had a couple of tough chances that the Rooney of last season may have taken, but after the summer he had, he is still climbing back up the ladder to get to that prolific stage once again.

Rangers didn't look at all like a team that wanted to win the game. They needed to win, but their extremely negative tactics of about five defenders and one striker restricted them to only around 5 minutes of the whole match outside of their own half. They were dominated by a controlling but wasteful Manchester United, who admittedly didn't create a massive amount of chances.

Rangers brought on James Beattie - another striker - just after Rooney had scored, and with little chance of getting anything from the game just whithered away, accepting their Europa League spot.
Valencia had beaten Bursaspor 6 - 1 and so Rangers needed to win. Nobody must have told them that though.

Manchester United ended up being too much for the Scottish team, and stayed at the top of their Champions League table with a point against their next opponents and closest rivals Valencia, guaranteeing them top spot.

Hopefully for Manchester United and Wayne Rooney, the striker can now get back on track in the Premier League with goals galore. It might take a little while longer for him to get back into top form, but he will get there - and if his estatic celebration was anything to go by, his commitment to United is not in any doubt.

Hernandez Lifts United

It was a tricky game for Manchester United last night. A game away to the La Liga leaders with both Rooney and Scholes not travelling is a tough job to complete. But they did it.

United had to resist a lot of pressure from Valencia, but they knew this would happen away from home. Valencia wanted to put on a show for their fans, who, so far this season have been very pleased with what they have seen. However, Valencia could not penetrate the United defence with their play, although they tried other tactics, such as an aggressive stamp on Vidic's chest by one of the Valencia attackers, and then Soldados ridiculously desperate attempt to remove Nani's boots as the winger had the ball, when Soldado was on the floor. Astonishingly, in both occasions, the offender got away with it, but ultimately payed the price by conceding a late goal, and losing the game.

Valencia were a compact force. It was hard for United to create anything through the midfield, although this was probably thanks to the absence of Scholes, and the poor performances from Nani, Park, and Anderson. Nani, once again was giving the ball away with silly decisions, when a simple pass was on, and often, when he did choose the right pass, hit it too short, leaving the receiver with more work to do. It adds to the frustration, when it seems Nani doesn't realise the mistakes he makes, when they are schoolboy errors, which a man of his ability doesn't need to make. The sooner he realises that the small things like accurate, simple passing make him a better player as well as the big things like scoring a few goals, the better, because otherwise, he won't improve.

Berbatov had a tough game. His excellent season so far has relied on space and time on the ball, with options around him, as well as a good supplier from the wings. Last night, he had very little of any of those things, and therefore struggled to make an impact due to insufficient support. "Chicharito" saved United's day with a great little finish in the 85th minute to win the game. His first touch was to hit the post, while his second and third were controlling the ball and scoring. The young Mexican has brilliant pace, a great finish, and now a boost in confidence after his first Champions League goal for Manchester United. Is he the improved, young version of Michael Owen? Of course, he has a while to go before he eclipes the English legend, but the attributes are there.

United are now level on points with Rangers in their Champions League group, and their next game is against the Turkish club, Bursaspor, who have lost their first two games against Rangers last night, and Valencia. It should prove an easy qualification through to the knock-out rounds this year for United, but with their current form, you don't know what will happen.