Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game as Manchester United won the final of the Club World Cup against Liga de Quito after Nemanja Vidic had been sent off.

United were always the dominant force and Rooney ensured his side got the reward they deserved when he curled home the winner 16 minutes from time after Cristiano Ronaldo had supplied the final pass.

It is the first time an English club have won the tournament in its expanded form and the second time United have been crowned the world's best following their victory over Palmeiras in 1999.

Rooney said he was "delighted and proud" after scoring the winning goal in Yokohama.

"It's fantastic. It's a great achievement by us. We are really delighted and proud that we are the world champions," he said. "To score the winning goal is a great feeling for myself."

United captain Rio Ferdinand added: "Now we can say we are the best team in the world. We knew they could create problems but I think today we kept them down to a minimum of chances."

Quito's defence was by no means watertight but, not for the first time this season, United failed to make their superiority tell. Rooney powered two thunderous efforts towards goal that Jose Cevallos managed to deal with, the first time convincingly, the second far less so.

From then on, Rooney was the link man as chances began to pile up. Park Ji-sung was one culprit, driving an angled shot straight at Cevallos before lifting a close-range shot over the bar after Rafael had picked him out with a superb crossfield pass.

Carlos Tevez was denied a number of times while Ronaldo was a muted force in attack. As Ferguson delivered his interval team-talk, he must have warned his team of the danger that lurked if chances continued to be spurned. If so, his words had even more resonance four minutes after the restart as Vidic was sent off.

The flashpoint came as Vidic and Beiler wrestled on the floor as they tried to get to their feet with TV replays showing Vidic had used an elbow.

However, the ten men of United kept pushing and 16 minutes from time duly received their reward. Carrick supplied a superb pass for Ronaldo, who instead of going for goal himself, fed Rooney to his left and his shot was precise and out of the reach of Cevallos.

Van der Sar needed to make a flying save to deny Alejandro Manso in the final minutes and even Tevez was off the bench as the celebrations began.