Rooney 1, 45 + 1        Bent 58

                                                          Vidic 63        

Manchester United strolled to victory over improving Aston Villa thanks to a welcome first-half brace from Wayne Rooney and a thunderbolt from centre-half Nemanja Vidic.

£18m signing Darren Bent’s goal had made the score 2-1 and hinted at a Villa comeback. But United eventually won comfortably.

United were ahead within a minute. Keeper Edwin Van der Sar found Rooney with a pinpoint-accurate free-kick from deep inside his own half.

And Rooney’s sublime first touch gave him time and space to hammer a right-footed volley past Villa keeper Brad Friedel from the edge of the area.

Friedel was the busier keeper in the first half and made a spectacular left-handed save from Nani’s 20-yard left-foot piledriver in the 22^nd minute.

But he could do nothing about United’s second goal in first-half stoppage time, Nani’s fine, curling cross half-volleyed into the net left-footed by Rooney from eight yards.

Villa pulled one back on 58 minutes, Bent side-footing home Stewart Downing’s right-wing cross from eight yards.

However, five minutes later, Vidic restored United’s two-goal cushion, lashing the ball home from 15 yards after Rooney laid it into his path.

And Friedel saved another Rooney shot late on to deny the striker his hat-trick