Wayne Rooney's talent is as obstinate as it is expressive. He was to crack the match open with a breakthrough goal but for most of this fixture he was cowed by Richard Dunne. Were his life not so blessed you might have felt sorry for the teenager, particularly when he collected an ignominious booking in the 38th minute.
He had brought down Dunne, a marker who was then so much in command that he had just taken the ball and burst away from the striker. Rooney is burly, but it looked inconceivable then that he could have the strength to reverse the balance of power in his relationship with the City centre-half. By the end, however, an unfortunate Dunne had been reduced to conceding an own goal.
It is one of the many freakish elements of Rooney's career that he has never been hampered by the tentativeness that affects other youngsters. He does not shrink from the conflict. That can make him repellent at times and Graham Poll, for instance, ought to have sent him off at Highbury this month for his fouls and foul-mouthed abuse.
United recognise how harmful his faults could be, but they will take care not to tame him by suffocating his personality. While Rooney did not play at all well yesterday his desire to make a difference never wavered and his goal, in the 68th minute, illustrated that his appetite will be not be blunted even in the middle of a disappointing spell.
Roy Keane disguised his intentions and Kiki Musampa was marginalised as the captain released Gary Neville. The full-back's low cross was fired to the edge of the six-yard box, where, for once, Rooney's desire and anticipation had got him to the ball first at the near post. His finish then deflected off Dunne to find the net at the same post.
And Rooney's will was acknowledged by Alex Ferguson. "When you have someone like Wayne in your side, you always have a threat," said the United manager. "Nothing fazes him and he has produced another great performance today."
That was stretching the issue. It had been a long wait for that decisive moment. The match tried the patience of the crowd and tested the perseverance of a United team that had been in difficulties during the first half. They have, all the same, been knuckling down to their work for months now, never letting their thoughts wander to the likely hopelessness of their position.
Chelsea remain nine points clear of them in the Premiership. United, nonetheless, have done all they can in improving themselves as much as possible. Connoisseurs would have no reason to extol them yesterday, but Alex Ferguson had sent out a team designed for a protracted scrap.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs appeared purely as substitutes and the introduction of the Portuguese winger was forced on the manager. John O'Shea had begun to feel woozy following a clash of heads with Sylvain Distin after 15 minutes.
City no longer dread meeting pragmatic opponents. They are a tougher side nowadays and, before the interval, Kevin Keegan's men had the better of the exchanges. Musampa had pulled a good save out of Roy Carroll as early as the fourth minute and, later, it appeared certain that they would take the lead.
Eight minutes from half-time, Shaun Wright-Phillips beat Wes Brown on the right and struck a similar cross to the one that Neville would later serve up for Rooney. The difference was that Steve McManaman, rushing to meet it, applied greater force and flashed the ball wide of the post.
City's wastefulness accounts for this defeat. Having sold Nicolas Anelka at the very end of the transfer window, they are not potent enough in attack and Robbie Fowler had neither the pace nor presence to punish United. After 47 minutes, Brown's miscalculation left Wright-Phillips to pick out but the striker mis-hit the ball so badly that it bounced off the City midfielder.
Later, Fowler would miskick when a corner dropped to him and Antoine Sibierski was to skew a finish when well-placed to score. Musampa did get a drive on target, but Carroll was equal to it. All these incidents occurred when United were 2-0 ahead.
A second goal was vital for the visitors and it had odd origins.
A pinch of ill will had more impact than a heap of good intentions. Fowler was shown a yellow card for a foul on Neville and his subsequent squabble with the full-back seemed to bring a sharper edge to the whole United side for a brief period.
With 15 minutes remaining the right-back picked out Rooney from his throw-in and the forward shaped a dangerous cross. David James must have failed to make his intentions known, for Dunne did not seem to believe his goalkeeper was about to collect the ball. The Irishman sought to clear but merely bent the ball into the far corner of his net.
Afterwards, Keegan sympathised with the Irish defender. "It was pretty cruel for Richard," said Keegan. He couldn't do much about either (of the goals) really but it was a shame because otherwise he was
outstanding."
Before the game could kick-off once more Fowler walked over to address further words to Neville.
There had also been an exchange of views between Keegan and Ferguson as they disagreed over the causes of the dysfunctional relationship between the two footballers.
The United side are, in general, operating properly at present and if this was an unremarkable display from them, Giggs could still come close to adding a third goal when he hit a post in stoppage time.
Consistency was maintained even though Brown had lapses in defence and Keane was surprisingly unobtrusive.
City, for their part, were too erratic here to be confident of ending this season in the top half of the Premiership.
