Soccer:Wayne Rooney insisted he wanted to remain at Manchester United for "a long time" after scoring twice in a thrilling 3-2 FA Cup win at Manchester City this afternoon.

Rooney scored either side of a Danny Welbeck strike as United led 3-0 at half-time, City having had captain Vincent Kompany sent off But the 10 men came back strongly after the break with Aleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Aguero on target and had United hanging on at the end.

Rooney’s future has been the subject of speculation and he made a point of clutching the United badge after scoring his first. Asked if he had a point to prove today, Rooney said: “No, not at all. Everything that has been in the press of late is a load of nonsense really.

“There is no problem for me at this club. I want to be at this club for a long time.” Paul Scholes came out of retirement and was named on the bench, coming on in the second half. And Rooney admitted the United players did not know about the situation until they got into the dressing room before the game.

“It was a bit of a shock to be honest, we didn’t know until we were in the dressing room, but he’s a great player.” On the game, Rooney admitted: “We knew it was going to be difficult today, going 3-0 up, we maybe took our foot off the gas a bit. City got two goals and we had to make sure we saw the game out and thankfully we managed to do that.”

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney is saddled with the curse of Paul Gascoigne and every flaw in his character will be used against him.

At the end of a tumultuous weekend, which began with reports of a split with his manager so great United were contemplating selling him during the present transfer window, Rooney was the two-goal hero in United’s triumph.

Ferguson admitted his star man will have to deal with more negative headlines given his status in the game. “Wayne Rooney is a headline-maker, good or bad.” It is the situation that existed many years ago with Paul Gascoigne.

“We have seen the good stuff today but any flaws will be absolutely annihilated by the press. That is what they are like. That is what we are dealing with. Today was a magnificent performance.”

Yet it is a fact that in October 2010, Rooney requested a transfer amid concerns about United’s ambition. And also, the striker was disciplined over his performance in training immediately after a night out over Christmas.

“There is no problem with the boy’s temperament at all. It is just off-the-field he is going to be spotlighted all the time.”

Despite the result, which condemned City to their first home defeat in over 12 months, Ferguson was not happy.“It was ridiculous. We got careless and made City better han they were. They went defensive in the second half and waited for us to make mistakes; and we made them. Fortunately we scrambled away with a victory, from a position where we should have battered them.”

Indeed, his anger at Kompany’s red card apart, Blues boss Roberto Mancini was the happier man at the end, believing the outcome should provide confidence from which his side can go on to win the Premier League title.

“This evening is important for the league,” he said. “Now I think we can win the league because of the character we showed. “United is a top squad in England. At Old Trafford, with 10 men for 40 minutes, they lost 6-1. Today we played for 80 minutes with 10 players, scored two goals and didn’t concede any chances. It was a fantastic performance. If we have the same attitude and same strength every game, we will win the league.”

Although he was partly responsible for Sergio Aguero’s goal for City, which really made United sweat after Aleksandar Kolarov had reduced the deficit straight after the restart, Paul Scholes helped to bring a measure of composure to United’s game near the end.

The Red Devils confirmed their veteran midfielder had come out of retirement just before the teams were announced, with Ferguson explaining the 37-year-old had approached him about resuming his career a few weeks ago.

“In the last few weeks, Paul has been training very hard with the reserves and doing a lot of work in the gym. He came to see me and said ‘I regret retiring’. There are no negatives for me. The players have been delighted. I am delighted. The fans are delighted.

“The last few weeks he has been stepping up his training and been taking part in our training sessions during the week. It is a terrific addition to our squad at a very important part of our season.”