Manchester United 2-0 Bolton: Axed Wayne Rooney makes Wanderers pay

If this is the response Sir Alex Ferguson gets when he decides to omit Wayne Rooney from his starting line-up, the Manchester United boss should do it more often.

In four years at United, Rooney has started the majority of their games, his natural exuberance and remorseless work ethic, not to mention his eye for goal, making it hard for Fergie to leave him out.

But at Old Trafford on Saturday, Fergie reminded the world of his peerless manmanagement skills by naming Rooney among his seven substitutes - as revealed on Saturday morning by Mirror Sport - and then unleashing him on Bolton with 20 minutes to go.

The result? Rooney, with a point to prove, played like a man possessed and capped his inspired late cameo with a superbly-taken goal, his first in a United shirt since April 26 at Chelsea.

"If we get a response like we got from Rooney from all the players in our squad, it's terrific for the club," said Fergie.

"It doesn't come down to performance. It comes down to keeping players fresh. To keep strikers fresh is an art. And that's what we hope we can do this season - freshen up at the right time.

"It's not always a matter of who's playing the best or who I prefer, it's about keeping the freshness in the team. They might not like it, but nor do the foreign players. Eric Cantona wanted to play every game. But you can't. It's just a fact of life. Managing that is not the easiest thing but it's necessary.

"Players understand it but it doesn't mean they accept it. When it's their turn to be sitting out they don't like it, which is okay with me. You don't want players who are happy sitting on the bench."

Rooney's introduction lit up a drab game that had finally sparked into life with a controversial penalty decision on the hour.

Bolton full-back Jlloyd Samuel won the ball in a fair challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo but, inexplicably, ref Rob Styles pointed to the spot. Even Ronaldo, who has earned himself a reputation as a diver, admitted it wasn't a foul, as did Fergie.

"I was surprised at the decision," said the United boss. "It looked to me as if their player got a foot on the ball. But Rob Styles turned down about four or five penalties for us last season so maybe that's our payback."

Ronaldo showed his professionalism by scoring from the spot to break Bolton's brave resistance after Gary Megson's side had looked capable of coping with everything United threw at them.

Bolton should have taken the lead five minutes before the break, but Fabrice Muamba somehow managed to steer the ball wide of the target from six yards out with a miss-of-the-season contender.

Once United were in front, Bolton were doomed and Rooney provided the killer touch seven minutes after coming on following a quick break with Ronaldo.

Rooney's clever dummy took him away from Bolton skipper Kevin Nolan and he picked his spot before curling an exquisite shot beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Next up for United are FC Aalborg in the Champions League tomorrow. With United on the march and their formidable attackers back on form, you have to feel for the littleknown Danish side.

YOU THE MANAGER FANTASY FOOTBALL MAN OF THE MATCH (Worth an extra two Fantasy League points) Wayne Rooney (MAN UTD) 8 Inspired late cameo capped by a superb goal

VILLAIN OF THE MATCH Rob Styles (REFEREE) 1 Inexplicably awarded United a penalty

Manchester United: Van der Sar 6, Neville 7, Ferdinand 7, Vidic 7, Evra 8, Ronaldo 7 (Nani 81), Fletcher 7, Anderson 7 (Scholes 71, 7), Park 6, Tevez 6 (Rooney 71, 8), Berbatov 7. Goals: Ronaldo 60 pen, Rooney 77

Bolton Wanderers: Jaaskelainen 7, Steinsson 7, Cahill 7, A O'Brien 7, Samuel 7, Davies 6, Muamba 6, Nolan 7, McCann 6, Gardner 6 (Smolarek 73, 5), Elmander 6 (Vaz Te 67, 5)

Referee: Rob Styles ATTENDANCE: 75,484.

UNITED CAN RISK DROPPING HIM!

With Wayne Rooney: Played 153 Won 102 Drawn 30 Lost 21

WIN PERCENTAGE 67%

Without Rooney: Played 27 Won 18 Drawn 3 Lost 6

WIN PERCENTAGE 67%

COMPUTER

MAN UTD v BOLTON: UNITED HAVE REF TO THANK

75% BALL POSSESSION 25%

FACE TO FACE

16 Corners 4

1 Offside 1

90% Pass completion 65%

20 Tackles 30

9 Fouls 9

0 Cards 3

SHOTS

9 off target 4

13 on target 2

ANORAK Ronaldo's penalty was in an unwanted milestone for Bolton. It was the 500th Premier goal they've let in

NEXT THREE GAMES

MAN UTD Tue: Aalborg (a) Ch Lg, Sat: Blackburn (a) Prem, Sat Oct 18: West Brom (h) Prem

BOLTON Sat: West Ham (a) Prem, Sat Oct 18: Blackburn (h) Prem, Sat Oct 25: Spurs (a) Prem

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