Barclays Premier League

Rooney strike cheers champions

Wayne Rooney stepped out of Cristiano Ronaldo's enormous shadow to ensure Manchester United began the defence of their Premier League title with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham.

• Rooney can get 20 - Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson has repeatedly claimed this summer that United will prosper without the world's best player, sold to Real Madrid for a world record £80million.

For that to happen, Rooney must become United's main man.

And, after playing second fiddle for so long, and spending too much time on the wing for his liking, Rooney returned to centre stage in every sense, rising to meet Nani's cross, then tapping home when his 34th-minute header bounced back off a post.

The sense of change around Old Trafford was made even more obvious by the absence of Rio Ferdinand with a thigh injury, meaning a first Premier League start for Fabio and the captain's armband for John O'Shea.

It seemed a strange decision by Sir Alex Ferguson, who in the past has extolled Rooney's leadership virtues.

Maybe the United boss felt on such a big day for the England man, it was unnecessary to give him the added burden of leading his team. And, in fairness, as skipper or not, Rooney was at the centre of his side's most inventive moments.

Ronaldo's absence will be felt for some time. There was none of that magical trickery the Portugal superstar has provided for the Old Trafford faithful for six stellar years and none of that edge-of-your-seat anticipation either.

Yet in terms of chances, the hosts created plenty, fuelling a belief that they will be a more rounded team.

Nani in particular looks to have been injected with a fresh dose of confidence. The winger was not quite as effective as he was during last week's Community Shield encounter with Chelsea but his direct running caused Birmingham problems, as did Antonio Valencia on his debut as he drifted in from the other flank.

If the Portugal international had got his shooting boots on, United would have been in front before Rooney struck.

As it was Nani scooped a disappointing shot over from Patrice Evra's cut-back and set the stage for Rooney to make his mark.

The striker was involved in the build-up, as he linked up with Dimitar Berbatov to release Nani down the left.

Rooney climbed above Franck Queudrue to reach the teasing cross and although his header bounced back off the post, he was perfectly positioned to tap home the rebound.

Birmingham's response was spirited and after Cameron Jerome's shot had flicked off Paul Scholes, Gregory Vignal thought he had equalised from the corner, only for Evra to nod his header off the line.

It was a sporadic flurry of attacking play from the visitors, who were thankful not to be further behind at the break given Evra set up Fletcher with a clear chance in stoppage time, only for the new Scotland skipper to steer his shot wide when it looked easier to score.

Having come so close in the final seconds of one half, United nearly doubled their lead in the opening moments of the next.

When the ball bounced invitingly 30 yards out, Rooney could not resist the temptation to let fly, drawing another good save out of Hart.

United's first decent post-Ronaldo free-kick was taken by Ryan Giggs after Vignal had caught Rooney late on the edge of the area.

The veteran's effort would not have been far off either if it had not flicked wide off Jerome, who had worked tirelessly as a lone striker at the other end without threatening.

A similar statement could not be made about his replacement Christian Benitez, who found himself streaking down the left with 13 minutes to go and, after stepping inside Wes Brown, with a clear sight of goal.

Some pundits wonder why Fabio Capello keeps faith in Ben Foster given the number of times he has been unavailable for England duty. In a split-second he provided the answer.

As Benitez opened out his body out and went for the far corner, Foster flung himself in the same direction, flicking the ball away to let United breathe again.

Substitute Michael Owen did have the ball in the net once, only to be flagged offside. He was most certainly on when he raced onto Rooney's chested through ball in stoppage time.

This time, Hart made the save.

Rooney can get 20 - Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson estimates Rio Ferdinand will be out of action for two weeks after missing Manchester United's victory over Birmingham this afternoon.

Ferdinand was forced to pull out with a thigh injury, with Ferguson claiming before the game that his £29.1million defender will be going for a scan in the morning. "I would imagine Rio will be out for two weeks," said Ferguson.

"He took it very well," said Ferguson of Wayne Rooney's goal.

"It was a good header to start with and he was very quick to get to the rebound. He reacted in the right way and it gets him on the road to what we hope will be a very significant total for us this season."

"If you have two or three strikers who can get you 20 it stands you in good stead." said Ferguson. "Wayne Rooney is well capable of that."

There was no argument from Alex McLeish, whose team turned in a creditable performance, without ever quite getting to grips with Rooney's threat.

Discussing Rooney, McLeish said: "We have seen so many natural footballers over the years, people like Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo, they are difficult to coach.

"You can do one or two things in terms of the shape of the team but when he drops into those little pockets, he is hard to pin down."

"There might be certain little things you can pick up on a DVD but Manchester United have such a vast pool of talent they can still cope with most teams in the league," McLeish said.

His replacement Michael Owen might have had one on his debut as well, only for the former Liverpool forward to fire straight at Joe Hart.

"The more you watch it, the better that save was," said Ferguson.

"Nevertheless, he will get his goal and once he does, it will set him on the road as well."

After drawing their last two opening fixtures against teams - Reading and Newcastle - who were subsequently relegated, at least United were able to get a win this time.

And, while the loss of Ronaldo is going to take some getting used to, Ferguson still feels United can look forward with confidence.

"I know some of our supporters are still worried that I have not bought a megastar to replace Cristiano," he said.

"They are concerned because they can't quite work out how we are going to compensate for all the goals Cristiano used to get for us.

"But I am more than happy with our squad and although we have lost a major player, I believe we are on the threshold of a very exciting era for Manchester United."