Ferdinand lauds a Rooney special

Manchester United FC defender Rio Ferdinand praised Wayne Rooney for the "trademark goal" that earned the Premier League champions a narrow 1-0 victory over AS Roma on Tuesday night.

Decisive goal
Ferdinand said there were not many players capable of producing the kind of finish with which Rooney beat Roma keeper Gianluca Curci for the decisive goal 20 minutes from time. Rooney struck from the right side of the penalty box – a similar position to where he netted United's winner against AC Milan in last season's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg – though this time the ball ran across Curci before going in off the far post.

Glimpses
"I don't think he's 100 per cent fit yet but he is showing glimpses of what he is capable of and today was a trademark Wayne goal – not many players can score that kind of goal, running away from goal like he was and with that power and hitting it early to surprise the goalkeeper," said Ferdinand. Although Rooney missed a month's action at the start of the season because of a foot injury, Ferdinand added that the United forward had "played a few games now and is getting back to full fitness".

Rode their luck
If Rooney showed flashes of his talent, Sir Alex Ferguson's team rode their luck at times against a Roma side that went close to grabbing an equaliser in the closing stages, with Ferdinand admitting: "It was a workmanlike display." United have won six of their last eight matches by the same single-goal scoreline but the England defender added: "We'll take 1-0s all day if they keep coming but it is a lot easier for us at the back when we do go two or three goals up."

'Good start'
While United have struggled to recapture their attacking fluency of last season, Ferdinand pointed out that after successive 1-0 wins over Sporting Clube de Portugal and now Roma, the Old Trafford side are now well placed in Group F, with a three-point advantage at the top. "We couldn't have asked for much more in terms of results, with six points on the board," he said. "You win your home games and you get a few points away from home and you are more or less there. It's a good start but we're nowhere near finished yet."