Wayne Rooney led 10-man Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the English Premier League Sunday in a heated 150th derby that saw Cristiano Ronaldo sent off.
The England striker ended a six-week goal drought to ensure fame prevailed over fortune as the European and English champions took on their neighbor for the first time since Abu Dhabi royalty made City the wealthiest club in the world.
Rooney had been determined to show that the Red Devils are the true "Kings of Manchester," and his 42nd-minute goal -- his 100th in club football -- proved decisive.
City goalkeeper Joe Hart spilled Michael Carrick's shot from a tight angle, and Rooney was able to tap over into an unguarded net.
United clung onto its slender advantage despite facing a far-more assertive City in the second half and playing the last 22 minutes a man down.
Ronaldo had been harshly booked for tripping Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 59th and then sarcastically applauding referee Howard Webb.
It proved costly when the Portugal star was shown a second yellow card for deliberately handling Rooney's corner.
To chants of "cheat," Ronaldo slowly trudged off The City of Manchester Stadium pitch.
Victory took United to 28 points from 14 matches, five behind Chelsea, which was at home to Arsenal yesterday, and Liverpool, at home to West Ham United today.
On Saturday, Bolton Wanderers illuminated a dull day with a 4-1 victory at Sunderland that lifted it to seventh in the standings.
Djibril Cisse gave Sunderland an early lead but Bolton, hot tips for relegation a few games ago, hit back in style with Sweden striker Johan Elmander scoring twice to leave Sunderland in the bottom three.
Fourth-placed Aston Villa failed to take advantage of the three sides above it not being in action, drawing 0-0 at home to Fulham when victory would have taken it provisionally above United.
Hull City remained sixth after drawing 1-1 at Stoke City, Ricardo Fuller's penalty earning Stoke a point after Marlon King had given the visitors a glimpse of a fifth away league victory.
Newcastle United edged out of the relegation zone thanks to a 0-0 draw at northeast rival Middlesbrough while bottom club West Bromwich Albion lost 1-2 at Wigan Athletic and remains four points adrift of fourth-bottom Newcastle.
Sunderland's Stadium of Light was largely empty long before the end as Roy Keane's side slumped to a third consecutive home league defeat to leave it mired in relegation trouble.
"The last three or four weeks, particularly at home, we are conceding the kind of goals that make it impossible to win football matches," Keane, whose side face his old club United next week, told Sky Sports.
"I ask myself every single day if I am the right man for Sunderland," the Irishman said. "I asked myself this morning and I said that I was. Tomorrow morning if the answer's no we will have to look at it.
"I have to be honest in my assessment. It's not about what's best for Roy Keane. It's Sunderland Football Club. I might wake up on Monday morning and think I'm the right man. On Tuesday it might be different."
(Shanghai Daily December 1, 2008)
