Manchester 2 Portsmouth 1: In their dark sunglasses, sharp suits and ciabatta tans Milan's infiltrators could easily be made out in the VIP seats, scribbling into their pads and presumably underlining the name of Wayne Rooney in red. In this form he could trouble the world's most accomplished defender, which is just as well considering that Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini will be waiting in the San Siro next week rather than Andy Griffin and Dejan Stefanovic.

The objective for Manchester United on Saturday was to close the gap on Chelsea while delivering a poke-in-the-ribs reminder of their own durability in the final exchanges of championships. Yet, mission accomplished, Rooney should take extra satisfaction from having made the delegation of Italian spies squirm in their seats, not only because of his elegantly taken goals but also his anticipation, perseverance and competitive instincts.

Were it not for his late and decisive contribution Alex Ferguson would have had little choice but to grit his teeth and begrudgingly concede the title for a second consecutive year. As it is, United will prolong the argument, with Saturday's lunchtime kick-off against Crystal Palace giving them the opportunity to close the gap to three points before Chelsea play that same day at Norwich.

Looking further ahead, specifically to their renewal of acquaintances with Milan, the skills flaunted by Rooney in overcoming a willing but limited Portsmouth side should at least invigorate United's belief that they can overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit, even if they may go into the game without half their usual defence and with a goalkeeper who is in the team only by default.

Almost lost amid the accolades for Rooney and the latest twist in the post-Schmeichel soap opera at Old Trafford were the facts that Gary Neville needed a hospital visit after a hard but fair challenge with Matthew Taylor, the Portsmouth left-back, and that Rio Ferdinand's afternoon was spent in the stands after he tweaked a hamstring in training.

Not far from Ferdinand the desolate figure of Roy Carroll could also be made out, alone in his thoughts and, almost unnoticed, leaving early from his seat beside the reserve-team coach Ricky Sbragia, a man with whom he may become better acquainted over the next few months.

Officially the Northern Ireland international was simply being rested. Others might suggest he was being put in cold storage. As Fabien Barthez, Massimo Taibi and Jim Leighton can testify, Ferguson can be brutal when it comes to disposing of goalkeepers whom he no longer regards as up to the job, and it does not need close scrutiny of the manager's record to realise that Carroll has blown it.

"Roy made a bad mistake against Milan and it was better to leave him out," Ferguson said. "We've got important games coming up and it's important to see how Tim Howard can respond to the challenge."

It should not be overlooked that Ferguson also has considerable reservations about Howard but the American was given a gentle reintroduction to the first team and could not reasonably have been expected to keep out the slicing volley from Gary O'Neil that arched beyond him to level the match at 1-1 shortly after half-time.

The equaliser was so unexpected it took United another 20 minutes to re-establish themselves as the dominant team. There have been plenty of occasions when Rooney has been identified for special acclaim but this was perhaps the first occasion he had taken it upon himself to drag the team, almost singlehandedly, out of a potentially damaging lull.

As the crowd became increasingly anxious and the team started to look devoid of ideas, with Ruud van Nistelrooy conspicuously rusty and Roy Keane on a day off, Rooney was the one player who gleamed like a beacon.

His first goal may have been a direct response to Ferguson's instruction to spend more time in the six-yard area, anticipating that neither Van Nistelrooy nor Arjan De Zeeuw would reach Neville's cross and sweeping the ball past Kostas Chalkias in one gliding movement.

Portsmouth are entitled to reflect that they defended manfully during the late onslaught, but when the winning goal came it was classy in its creation and clinical in its execution. Van Nistelrooy had a bittersweet afternoon, well below his predatory best, but he did manage one vital contribution, namely the crisp pass with which he pitted Rooney against Stefanovic with nine minutes to go.

"The speed of the pass and the first touch killed their defender," Ferguson said. Most exquisitely of all, Rooney also had the presence of mind to delay his shot long enough for Chalkias to go to ground. Battle won, he simply picked his spot in the bottom corner.

"In collecting that ball he had to make at least three important decisions in a split second," said the Portsmouth coach Joe Jordan. "He made the right ones like that (clicking his fingers). You can't blame the goalkeeper. Rooney outmanoeuvred and out-thought him."