By David Hobbs
September 14 2005

Wayne Rooney will dominate the headlines for all the wrong reasons as Manchester United were held to a tense 0-0 draw by Villarreal.

Rooney Dismissed in Villarreal Stalemate

Villarreal 0

Manchester United 0

Diego Forlan's first game against United ended in an anti-climax in a quiet evening for the Uruguayan but Wayne Rooney stole the show with a pantomime of stupidness.

The forward was first booked for a bad challenge then immediately dismissed for his childish, sarcastic reaction.

Roy Keane was ruled out with a hamstring injury for three weeks prior to the match while Cristiano Ronaldo surprisingly returned to the starting line-up ahead of Ji Sung Park and Ryan Giggs despite the recent death of his father.

However, United were forced to change their initial tactics due to an injury to Player of the Year Gabriel Heinze. The left-back landed awkwardly in challenge in the air and appeared to have hurt his knee. Kieran Richardson was the preferred replacement.

The Red Devils had a few half chances to take the lead during the first-half. Mikael Silvestre went close with a header that was saved by Sebastian Viera before Ruud van Nistelrooy should have converted a sweet Wayne Rooney pass from close range despite being flagged offside.

Rodolfo Arruabarrena went close for the hosts 10 minutes before the interval but was denied by another fine Edwin van der Sar save.

After the break, Alan Smith pushed up the tempo from midfield and started to introduce Wayne Rooney, who couldn't make anything of a few half-chances. Smith was booked for handball and a high challenge on Rodriguez before the hour mark.

Villarreal refused to hit the panic button despite the visitors dictating the tempo and dominating possession.

The Spaniards' patience finally paid off as they started to frustrate United, who desperate to break the deadlock. Unfortunately, Wayne Rooney's immaturity got the better of him.

Rooney was initially booked for a tackle on Quique Alvarez and his reaction to referee Kim Milton Nielsen, famous for dismissing a young David Beckham against Argentina, was simply unacceptable. Rooney sarcastically applauded Nielsen's decision to book him and then the Dane deservedly sent him off.

United pushed to break the deadlock with more intent despite being one man down. Ryan Giggs replaced Cristiano Ronaldo and Ji Sung Park substituted Ruud van Nistelrooy at the last throw of the dice.

However, Villarreal dominated the closing stages as they could have stole all three points from corners in succession but defensive work from the solid Edwin van der Sar and Ryan Giggs denied them an opening victory.

Final Score: Villarreal 0 - 0 Manchester United
Att: 22,000

Villarreal: S Viera, J Kromkamp, G Rodriguez, S Quique Alvarez, R Arruabarrena, R Hector Font (70 G Roger) , M Josico (45 A Tacchinardi) , M Senna, J Sorin, D Forlan, A Guayre (66 L Figueroa)

Manchester United: E Van der Sar, J O'Shea, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, G Heinze (33 K Richardson) , D Fletcher, P Scholes, A Smith, C Ronaldo (80 R Giggs) , R van Nistelrooy (80 J Park) , W Rooney

Refereed By: Kim Milton Nielsen