Rooney wastes little time returning to red zone

Amsterdam Tournament/Manchester Utd - 3 Porto - 1:  It seems that Wayne Rooney and Portuguese opponents do not mix. Less than 36 hours after reputedly informing Steve McClaren he intends to keep his temper, England's enfant terrible self-destructed again and was sent off last night during Manchester United's 3-1 victory over Porto in the Amsterdam tournament.

Apologists for Rooney - and they include Alex Ferguson - may claim his foul on Pepe was unintentional but, if so, Rooney is becoming ridiculously accident-prone. Ruud Bossen, the referee, certainly saw things rather differently and showed him a straight red card after he pushed the Porto defender in the face during an aerial challenge midway through the first half.

Granted many officials might have afforded Rooney the benefit of the doubt and Pepe did collapse in a heap clutching his face before leaping up unscathed once the card was flourished, but the case for the defence was somewhat undermined by one key fact: Rooney - who had earlier shown an amalgam of discipline and delicacy to score United's second goal - did not seem to be looking at the ball at the time of the offence.

Tellingly Co Adriaanse, Porto's manager reflected, rather wryly: "The referee was very close to the incident."

But Ferguson insisted: "Rooney's sending off was unfair; Wayne was surprised. The player involved made an issue of it which is . . . becoming endemic in football."

Asked if Rooney's reputation is now preceding him, he said: "It's becoming a real concern."

Michael Carrick duly found his United debut totally eclipsed and Ferguson's mood was hardly improved when Paul Scholes also saw a straight red in the second half for a horribly late tackle from behind on Quaresma.

Ferguson had no sympathy: "Paul Scholes had no excuse; he took the boy out."

Like Rooney, Scholes will face a three-game domestic ban if the Dutch FA pass the referee's report on to their English counterparts.

And to think that when McClaren met Rooney at United's training ground on Thursday England's new manager seemingly emphasised that such indiscretions must be consigned to the past.

Ironically, Rooney had begun with those self-destructive urges apparently well suppressed and displayed his jaw-dropping talent in using controlled aggression to dispossess Bosingwa before the most subtle of touches enabled him to dink the ball over Helton, the Porto goalkeeper.

Before then Carrick had at least enjoyed a brief moment in the sun. He may have cost £18.6 million but the former Spurs midfielder did succeed in making a positive early impact in Roy Keane's old number 16 shirt. Admittedly, Keane might not have approved of the occasional misplaced passes and slightly tentative failed interceptions that punctuated his successor's game but Carrick compensated by creating Scholes' opener.

The jury remains out as to whether the often deceptively languid midfielder achieved it courtesy of a piece of brilliant vision or appallingly slapdash Porto defending, but his decision to defy set piece convention by passing a corner to the feet of the onrushing Scholes left Helton looking thoroughly bemused.

If Scholes' eye problems threatened his career, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's career was very nearly ended by a knee injury and, in other circumstances, this might have been his night. United's renascent striker impressed throughout and deservedly scored a third goal for Ferguson's nine-man ensemble, squeezing a beautifully weighted shot home from the tightest of angles.

Although Pepe later registered an even better, longer-range strike, his rising shot arcing imperiously into the top corner, it appeared a mere footnote to the latest turmoil in Wayne's world.

United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has hinted the club could make a new signing within the next seven days.

"We are working on something," Queiroz said.

He insisted, however, the club would not be forced into a panic signing but would bide their time over any move. "We'll see, maybe next week. We don't rush with our decisions," he said.

United's 19-year-old central defender Gerard Pique has joined Real Zaragoza on loan for the rest of the season.