United limp past Bursaspor

The Rooney saga took a fresh twist before kick-off with the England striker confirming that he wants to leave United in pursuit of trophies.

And despite taking the lead as early as the seventh minute, United failed to impress against Turkish champions Bursaspor.

United fans were keen to make their feelings towards Rooney clear, with one banner reading: 'Coleen might forgive you, but we won't.'

And, in truth, the fixture had become a sideshow before kick-off with Rooney's name on everybody's lips - despite the 24-year-old being ruled out with an ankle injury.

But Nani set about improving the mood when he cut inside from the right and unleashed a perfectly-placed 25-yard shot past Dimitar Ivankov in the Bursaspor goal.

United should have pressed on from there and duly dominated possession throughout the first half.

But the hosts failed to build upon their flying start and soon fell flat, with Sercan Yildirim nearly punishing United after breaking clear on the right - but the forward's cross failed to find a team-mate.

Patrice Evra's low ball suffered the same fate two minutes later at the opposite end before Nemanja Vidic failed to direct his header on target from a Nani corner.

Bursaspor grew into the game as the half progressed but rarely looked like troubling the United defence until Vidic was dispossessed and Volkan Sen sprinted clear, only for Rafael to intercept with a superbly timed challenge to save his captain's blushes.

United emerged for the second half looking to replicate their start to the first 45 but the game soon dropped to a slow tempo until Evra injected a dash of pace, ghosting past his man before firing a cross-cum-shot at Ivankov.

Rooney's criticism of United's apparent lack of ambition may raise eyebrows in some quarters but the Red Devils, while comfortable, looked far from convincing throughout.

Anderson capped the best move of the match with a lovely flick to Federico Macheda but the Italian could not collect the ball in his stride, while Nani's 20-yard shot was aimed straight at Ivankov.

Bursaspor failed to threaten United's final third, despite three substitutions, and the introduction of Gabriel Obertan nearly earned United a second, but the Frenchman's glancing header from Nani's corner hit the outside of the post.

United continued to probe with Vidic's long ball forward from defence finding Javier Hernandez, who flashed his shot wide from the edge of the box.

The hosts now top Group C after Rangers and Valencia drew but the air of discontent around Old Trafford was evident at the final whistle with the green and gold now symbolic with the fans' attempts to oust the Glazers out in force.