Graphic: Bill Edgar's tactical analysis

There was a lovely scene in the final moments when Wayne Rooney had to stop and laugh as Ashley Young, a fellow England squad member forced to play right back after Aston Villa had had two players sent off, nutmegged him with an impudent piece of skill.

With another two goals to his name sending Manchester United to a seventh successive league victory, perhaps Rooney could afford to smile. But it reflects a depth of character, not to mention of ability and determination, to recover from the disappointment Rooney suffered with England in Russia and produce a brilliant display such as this.

“Top players always bounce back from setbacks,” Rio Ferdinand, having accompanied Rooney from Moscow to Birmingham, said. “Not individually, but as a team, we had a setback in midweek with England and as a top player Wayne came back and scored two goals, which is good.”

It was more than the continuation of his scoring spree, however, as he took his tally to six in five matches, that told of Rooney’s resilience on Saturday. He may have scored one of the best goals of his career in Moscow and given away one of the costliest penalties, but he played with awesome energy, skill and movement against Villa, trading positions and passes with Carlos Tévez in a manner that bodes well for United.

“Wayne is 21. He can’t be tired at that age,” Ferdinand said. “His enthusiasm to play football is great. His body is made for that. He has got a fantastic will to play, a great physique and can tolerate any type of surroundings he is put in. It is fantastic for us and today the myth about Tévez and Wayne not being able to play together was finally put to bed.”

Certainly United proved too much for a young Villa team who had started the match so impressively, taking the lead when the increasingly powerful Gabriel Agbonlahor headed in his fourth goal in six matches from Young’s cross. It was the first goal United had conceded in 611 minutes of league action and, with an outlandishly attacking lineup, there was a “hit or bust” element to Sir Alex Fergu-son’s tactics.

United have been emerging from an uncharacteristically austere period - only winning, instead of winning with style – but not only did they often play with an old-fashioned forward line on Saturday, the full backs also joined in.

Nani crossed low for Rooney to capitalise on what can kindly be described as defensive hesitancy to equalise and, after Ferdinand was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he tapped Agbonlahor, Rooney gave United the lead when sent in by Tévez. Zat Knight’s nightmare was complete when he watched Gerard Piqué head goalwards before Craig Gardner slashed Ferdinand’s shot over his own line.

Martin O’Neill was surprised at his team’s lax defending. “During the course of a season you try and cut out the straightforward, simple errors, but those were so simple it was untrue,” the Villa manager said.It seemed as if United had more players on the field before Villa’s personnel started making their dashes towards the exit. First Nigel Reo-Coker made two impetuous lunges to earn his fifth and sixth bookings of the season, then Scott Carson brought down Tévez when the Argentinian was sent clear by Rooney.

Stuart Taylor’s first touch was to save the penalty from Rooney, who later cracked a shot against the bar. The match turned into a keep-ball session as United, conserving their energies for their Champions League trip to Dynamo Kiev tomorrow, scored only once more, when Martin Laursen deflected in Ryan Giggs’s shot. After his wonder goal in Russia, Rooney hopes that he has another in his locker for the team from Ukraine.

How they rated

Aston Villa 1

4-4-2 S Carson R 5 O Mellberg 5 Z Knight 3 M Laursen 6 W Bouma 5 C Gardner 4 N Reo-Coker Y R 4 G Barry 7 A Young Y 7 L Moore 5 G Agbonlahor 7 Substitutes I Osbourne 6 (for Gardner, 54min), S Maloney 6 (for Moore, 54), S Taylor 7 (for Knight, 67) Not used C Davies, S Petrov

Manchester United 4 Agbonlahor 13 Rooney 36, 44, Ferdinand 45, Giggs 75

4-2-4 E van der Sar 6 W Brown 6 R Ferdinand 6 G Piqué 5 P Evra 5 Anderson 6 P Scholes Y 7 Nani Y 5 C Tévez 7 W Rooney 8 R Giggs 6 Substitutes D Fletcher (Tévez, 73), J O’Shea (for Scholes, 77), C Ronaldo (for Giggs, 77) Not used T Kuszczak, D Simpson

Referee R Styles

Attendance 42,640