The 22-year-old, who is yet to gain full match fitness following his return from an ankle injury, scored his first goal of the season in style to hand the Red Devils a vital Group F win.

"It was only his fourth or fifth match and he is still trying to get his rhythm and real match fitness," said Ferguson after the game.

"It will do him good. Goals always do players good, particularly when goals are expected of them, so I'm pleased with that.

"It was great movement and good passing which gave us the penetration we were looking for and created the opening for Wayne's excellent goal."

The United boss admitted that his opponents were unfortunate not to get a point out of the game as he admitted that goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak had work to do before the end.

"Roma had a few good chances and maybe we can count ourselves a little lucky," Ferguson said.

"He was excellent. He made a couple of good saves and made a good block in the second half."

Undeserved defeat

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti believes that the Giallorossi did not deserve to be on the losing side in the Old Trafford encounter, which evoked memories of last season's 7-1 nightmare.

"I think the team showed what happened in April was a blip. Tonight's performance showed there was a huge difference between what happened then and what happened now," said Spalletti.

"When a team puts in a display like that it should not be a beaten side. If anyone deserved to score more goals it was us, rather than Manchester United."