Chelsea 1-3 Man United: Martin Lipton's Daily Mirror match report

One trophy back, although it is the one Sir Alex Ferguson cares for least.

But perhaps, more importantly, Wayne Rooney back too and the first psychological blow decisively struck.

On an afternoon which surely had the watching Fabio Capello regretting even more Rooney's condition in South Africa and his failure to woo Paul Scholes into a return to the England fold, Fergie began as he means to continue.

Yes, it helped that Carlo Ancelotti's men were once more deeply under-cooked as they sunk to their fourth successive defeat in a pre-season campaign that could hardly have gone worse.

Ashley Cole had a shocker, John Terry scarcely better, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien are both feeling their way back and it was not until Didier Drogba came off the bench that there was any real thrust or conviction.

But United needed to lay down a statement of intent, to let the rest know they want that crown back.

And while Rooney is still awaiting his first goal since limping off in Munich in March, this was a clear and unequivocal sighting of the player we all know he can be, leaving the United fans gasping for more.

You need to be enthused and determined to want to race back 50 yards to win the ball in a pre-season kick-around, especially on the back of a World Cup to forget.

Yet as Michael Owen looked a pale shadow of his former self, Rooney was a constant fizz-ball of energy and even if the goal he craved did not come, his best chance fractionally wide dragged, it is surely only a matter of time.

That will have broadened Ferguson's smile and while the game was only settled in added time, Dimitar Berbatov's delightful finish ensuring it was not won purely by Javier Hernandez' fluke moment, United go into the real business next weekend with momentum.

Last term, Chelsea used their shoot-out victory over Fergie's side to prime themselves for what became a Double-winning campaign.

This time round, despite a brief flurry after Salomon Kalou nudged them back into it, Ancelotti's Blues looked well short of the poise and balance Scholes and Rooney gave to United.

Scholes might turn 36 in November, is entering his 17th Premier League season and has still never learned to tackle - as witnessed by an unpunished early shocker on Florent Malouda.

But he retains the priceless ability to set the tempo, to change the focus and direction of an attack with one precision pass, to break opponents down.

And if anybody doubted that he can still do it, then they were surely shaken out of that misapprehension four minutes before the break, when Scholes's angled ball allowed Rooney to ask a question Terry could not answer.

Rooney's instant early pull-back went through the retreating Terry's legs, allowing Antonio Valencia, who had ghosted away from Cole - not for the first or last time - to clip home.

It gave United the advantage they thoroughly deserved, even though Edwin Van Der Sar had saved from the otherwise disappointing Nicolas Anelka and superbly denied Branislav Ivanovic's header in the opening 17 minutes.

Yet that was as good as it got for Chelsea until too late, with Valencia exposing Cole, Scholes pulling the strings and Rooney perpetual motion before his interval withdrawal, Unitd good value for their advantage.

The arrival from the bench of Drogba belatedly roused Chelsea, with Kalou shooting at Van Der Sar, Essien just wide and then the Dutch keeper saving bravely at Malouda's feet.

But Chelsea's vulnerability down Cole's flank always looked as if it would cost them again and so it proved with 14 minutes to go, as the England man once again allowed Valencia to run in behind him.

This time, for once, the ball in was the right one and while Hernandez miskicked as he rushed in, the ball struck him in his own face and bobbled over the line.

Chelsea, further sparked by Daniel Strurridge, did at least look to respond.

The former Manchester City striker, played in by Essien, should have scored a minute before his curler was parried to the feet of Kalou, who slotted home.

Yet while Chelsea pressed for another to take it to penalties, Drogba the closest as he hit the side-netting after another attempt from Sturridge came to him, United broke for the killer moment, Nani allowing Berbatov time to lob over Hilario.

Bigger tests lie in wait for both sides. For the moment, unquestionably, United seem better prepared to take them. And, crucially, Rooney is ready to lead that task.