United climbed six places to seventh, eight points below Chelsea, after seeing off West Ham 2-1 at Old Trafford, but their victory was overshadowed by the red card shown to captain Rooney.

Injury problems forced United manager Louis van Gaal to give a debut to 19-year-old centre-back Paddy McNair.

But they took a fifth-minute lead when Rooney swept home Rafael da Silva’s cross to become the outright third-highest scorer in Premier League history with 176 goals; one more than Thierry Henry.

Radamel Falcao set up Robin van Persie to rattle in United’s second goal mid-way through the first half, but Diafra Sakho reduced the arrears for West Ham by nodding in after Enner Valencia’s header hit the bar.

Rooney was shown a straight red card in the 59th minute for kicking out at the fleeing Stewart Downing — his first club dismissal since March 2009 — but United’s 10 men held on to secure victory.

“I call it a professional foul,” said Van Gaal. “I’ve seen them a lot of times, but the referee makes another decision. But you can’t change it.”