The England captain opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after Falcao had been pulled back by John O’Shea.

But, instead of sending off the Irishman, referee Roger East showed a red card to his fellow former United defender Wes Brown.

Rooney added a second six minutes from time, and the 2-0 victory was enough to lift United above Arsenal and back into third in the Barclays Premier League table ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Everton on Sunday.

At the bottom of the table, West Brom pulled further clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over Southampton thanks to Saido Berahino’s goal in only the second minute.

Along with Sunderland, there were defeats for three other members of the bottom six, all of them 1-0.

Tim Sherwood is still searching for his first point as Aston Villa manager after Papiss Cisse netted the winner for Newcastle in the 37th minute.

A Kieran Trippier own goal condemned Burnley to a home loss against Swansea while Peter Crouch equalled Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 46 headed goals seconds after coming on as a substitute as Stoke beat Hull.