SOCCER: Birthday parties involving Wayne Rooney have a way of ending in a cloud of sulphur. A few months ago the police were called after fisticuffs broke out at the festivities when his girlfriend turned 18 and yesterday Rooney celebrated his own 19th birthday amid similar scenes of aggression and recrimination. But it was a day he'll remember with a wicked pleasure for the rest of his life.

Rooney may share with Diego Maradona a particular relish for goals that are stolen rather than scored. He certainly appeared to steal one after 72 minutes of yesterday's blood-curdling match, when he raced into the Arsenal penalty area and threw himself to the ground just as the desperate Sol Campbell was unwisely flicking out his foot in the direction of the Manchester United starlet's shins.

Mike Riley pointed to the penalty spot and Arsenal protested en masse, a phenomenon that might once have led to a serious disruption of the fixture. In truth, however, Campbell had only himself to blame as he watched Ruud van Nistelrooy stroke the ball past Jens Lehmann.

Not surprisingly, that episode was the focus of Arsene Wenger's post-match dissatisfaction. He accused Rooney of diving and his criticisms did not stop there. The Arsenal manager was never going to go quietly on the day his side's unbeaten run was ended by a 2-0 defeat and, opting for the scattergun, he switched his sights to the entire Manchester United team, alleging they had been "kicking his players off the park deliberately".

His harshest criticism, however, was reserved for the referee Mike Riley. Indeed, the Football Association might want to sift through his comments about the official's impartiality. Wenger struggled to keep his composure, making several thinly veiled references to the fact Riley has now awarded United eight penalties in his last eight matches officiating at Old Trafford.

Continuing the theme of mutual antipathy, Alex Ferguson accused Patrick Vieira of putting intolerable pressure on Riley, making it an "impossible job" for the man reputed to be the best referee in England.

Yet the lingering image will be of Wenger giving voice to Arsenal's "deep feeling of injustice", falling just short of alleging total bias on the part of Riley.

"We got the usual penalty when we come to Manchester United and they are in difficulty," he said with heavy irony. "It happened last season and it's happened again. We are extremely disappointed because we were the better team. Then, out of nowhere, Riley decided the game - like he can do at Manchester United.

"To see how lightly a referee can give a penalty in a game of that importance is very difficult to take. We can master only our performance, not the referee's, and the penalty was the turning point. Until then we had looked more like winning the game. So we feel we were robbed; the referee made the difference."

It is fair to assume Wenger was not among those offering birthday wishes to Rooney. "There was no contact at all for the penalty," he said. "Even Rooney has said so. He told our players that he was not touched."

Asked if the game had threatened to spiral out of control,Wenger replied: "Not on our side. On their side, yes. There were some incidents, especially on Jose Antonio Reyes in the first half, when they were deliberately kicking him. But that's what they always try against us when they're in a difficult situation so I'm not surprised."

Having given United the penalty with which they took the lead, Rooney finished off Arsenal two minutes into injury time at the end of a move involving Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha and Alan Smith. The part played by Saha and Smith, two substitutes, must have helped put a smile on the face of Ferguson, who sent them on during the final minutes.

From Ferguson's point of view, Rooney's double contribution must have represented a substantial repayment of his £27-million transfer fee. This was a match billed as the tipping point of United's season. Lose it and a 14-point gap to Arsenal would appear to eliminate them from the Premiership race. Win it and they would be back in the hunt.

No one could deny Ferdinand, who repelled wave after wave of attacks, deserved the man-of-the-match award. But it was Rooney who did the damage, who created the victory, who used the platform to provide further compelling evidence that, only five matches into his Manchester United career, he is destined to join the ranks of Old Trafford's greatest performers.