Rooney both hero and villain - Manchester United 2-1 West Ham United

Wayne Rooney was both the hero and villain on Saturday

Manchester United clung on to three points at home against West Ham United on Saturday, this says a lot about where they are right now.

Wayne Rooney scored before being sent off as Manchester United got back to winning ways with a 2-1 win over West Ham.

It has been a Jekyll and Hyde start for Louis van Gaal at Manchester United and with the capitulation at Leicester fresh in the mind, it was imperative that his side got back to winning ways sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the Hammers arrived at Old Trafford with a 3-1 win over Liverpool tucked in their back pocket and looking to capitalise on United's crippling defensive injury list. Shorn of Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and even Michael Carrick, Van Gaal turned to teenager Paddy McNair to make his senior debut.

Attack would need to be the best form of defence for the hosts and so it turned out as the Red Devils made a blistering start with Rooney opening the scoring inside five minutes. Brazilian full-back Rafael da Silva collected the ball on halfway and drove forward before cutting the ball back for Rooney to sweep effortlessly into the far corner of the net.

Almost immediately West Ham should have levelled as Daley Blind's poor back pass was latched on to by Enner Valencia but the Ecuadorian striker blazed high and wide.

United's lead was doubled on 22 minutes with the lively Ander Herrera heavily involved. The Spaniard's ability to time a challenge has been noticeable already in his United career and he snaffled Alex Song before the loose ball fell for Falcao to slide in Robin van Persie and he simply drilled the ball past Adrian.

The defensive nerves were soon jangling once again for the hosts and they conceded sloppily with just eight minutes remaining in the first half. De Gea, usually so reliable, was panicked into coming for a corner he was never getting to reach and after the ball eventually hit the crossbar, it fell for Diafra Sakho to nod home.

West Ham started the second half brightly and they were given a real shot in the arm when Rooney was shown a straight red card just after the hour mark. At first glance it looked a harsh decision with Stewart Downing looking to break and Rooney appearing to just clip his heels, but after a second look it was more of a swipe from the England captain.

Falcao was sacrificed for Darren Fletcher and Van Persie assumed the armband for the remaining half hour or so, but the Dutchman was left with the thankless task of chasing down hopeful clearance after hopeful clearance.

The Hammers piled on the pressure but the makeshift home defence were holding firm. De Gea was called into action just once, to keep out Sakho's volley at the near post after debutant Luke Shaw had been caught under a looping cross.

There were to be two key moments for the hosts to survive and young McNair was the hero for the first. Facing his own goal, just four yards out, with Carlton Cole and Valencia running in, he twisted his body to glance a superb Carl Jenkinson cross away from danger.

Then, in the 90th minute, West Ham were celebrating and United fans had their heads in their hands after Kevin Nolan swept home from close range. The relief inside Old Trafford was palpable when the assistant referee raised his flag to disallow the goal for offside with Nolan just half a yard ahead of play when the cross came in.

It would be the Hammers' final chance as the hosts set about running down the clock before great cheers of relief when the final whistle was blown to end a nervy afternoon at Old Trafford.