Manchester Utd 1 Roma 0

Wayne Rooney belted home his first goal of a frustrating season to drive Manchester United into pole position in their bid to reach the Champions League knock-out phase.

There may have been no repeat of the epic magnificent seven the last time they met Roma but United's latest victory over the Italians will be cherished almost as much.

Certainly Rooney will be looking back on the night's events with satisfaction as he finally made an impact on behalf of a misfiring United strikeforce, finishing neatly from Nani's lay-off and, with one flash of his right foot, silencing the growing question marks over his form.

'One-nil to the champions' may be a refrain more associated with Arsenal than United but this was their sixth such success of the campaign so far and, with maximum points from the opening two games in Group F, leaves Sir Alex Ferguson's men knowing four points from their double-header with Dynamo Kiev will take them through with two games to spare.

They had to survive two late scares though as Simone Perrotta and Mauro Esposito - at a time when United had been reduced to ten men because of Cristiano Ronaldo's departure with a badly cut head after Ferguson had used his three allotted substitutes - both missed gilt-edged chances.

Roma, with their skipper Francesco Totti to the fore, as well as fleet-footed Brazilian winger Mancini were the better side early on.

On his European debut, Tomasz Kuszczak made low saves to deny both men, although on the second occasion an incorrect offside flag had been raised against Mancini, who had been set free by Cicinho's superb pass behind John O'Shea.

Having left both Carlos Tevez and Ryan Giggs on the bench, big performances were expected of their replacements Louis Saha and Nani.

Saha was effective, stretching the Roma defence with his direct style but it was Nani who impressed more, the opening period representing the teenager's best efforts since completing his £17m summer move from Sporting Lisbon.

The Portugal winger produced three excellent crosses which should have brought United at least one goal.

Ronaldo nodded the first over and Roma keeper Gianluca Curci unconvincingly pawed the second away from O'Shea, a replacement for the injured Wes Brown.

Nani's third effort was the best, a far post ball which dropped perfectly for an unmarked Rooney.

It was the type of opportunity Rooney is capable of smashing into the top corner. This time he merely volleyed it over, which did not improve his temper much.

But Rooney proved the difference after the break. Fittingly, Nani provided the assist with a disguised through ball and the finish was a gem, Rooney's shot bouncing off the inside of Curci's right-hand post - the striker having unleashed a first-time effort just out of the Roma keeper's reach