Manchester United 0 Reading 0: Wayne Rooney suffered a serious-looking foot injury as Manchester United stumbled at the first hurdle in their title defence, held to an Old Trafford draw by 10-man Reading.

With Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all scrambling victories from their opening fixtures, United immediately find themselves adrift after a game of missed chances.

Not even the dismissal of Dave Kitson, just 37 seconds after his introduction as a second-half substitute, could provide the opening United so desperately searched for.

But by far the worst problem could be Rooney's, who went down immediately after Michael Duberry had accidentally landed on his foot and failed to reappear for the second half.

With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Louis Saha already out, an injury to Rooney is just what Ferguson did not need and is only likely to hasten the debut of Carlos Tevez, who completed his move to United on Friday but — like all of the Red Devils summer signings — did not make the starting line-up.

Twelve months ago, United struck four times in the opening 20 minutes against Fulham, setting the tone for a glorious campaign which ended with their ninth Premier League title.

Having seen all their major rivals collect three points over the weekend, the demand was there, if not for something similar, then for an effective, clinical, and winning performance.

This time round though it was just a painful struggle.

While Rooney buzzed around dangerously, Ryan Giggs prodded and probed and Cristiano Ronaldo — man-marked by Nicky Shorey — threatened after a slow start, United did not really trouble Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.

The best they could manage was a Giggs volley that crashed back off a post, although the acute angle presented to the veteran Welshman by Ronaldo's curling cross always meant he was an outside bet to score.