Fiery Rooney reaches boiling point

Just as Louis van Gaal finally caught a break, with Manchester United picking up a 2-1 victory over West Ham, he was also dealt a blow as skipper Wayne Rooney picked up a red card.

The England international had opened the scoring at Old Trafford on Saturday, but hacked down Stewart Downing as the winger looked to lead a break away and was duly shown his marching orders.

It was Rooney's first red card in a United shirt since 2009, though his manager was keen to play down the maliciousness of the challenge and felt it was merely a "professional" foul.

Nevertheless, the Red Devils will be forced to make do without their new captain until November, with a three-match ban ruling him out of fixtures against Everton, West Brom and Chelsea.