Manchester United moved to the top of Champions League Group B thanks to a late Wayne Rooney header.

The United and England captain has been heavily criticised over recent weeks due to his apparent loss of form.

But he was on the end of a Jesse Lingard cross on 79 minutes to move level with Denis Law on 237 goals for the Reds and 12 short of Bobby Charlton’s record of 249.

“Denis Law is a legend at this club and to equal his goalscoring record is a huge honour for me,” Rooney told BT Sport after the game.

And the goal also ended his sides drought having gone 404 minutes without scoring in all competitions.

The Old Trafford faithful were clearly nervous as their side looked to be heading towards another drab goalless draw.

And a chorus of boos rang out around the stadium when Louis van Gaal replaced the promising Anthony Martial with Marouane Fellaini midway through the second-half.

Asked if he could hear the fans, Van Gaal said: “Of course I heard it, I’m not deaf.

“That is the opinion of the fans but afterwards they shall not be disappointed of the decision of the manager.”

It was only an excellent save from David de Gea and some heroic last-ditch blocking from Chris Smalling that prevented the hosts falling behind after substitute Seydou Doumbia found himself in on goal.

The supporters watching on began to grow more agitated and urged their team forward chanting: "We want to attack, we want to attack, we're Man United, we want to attack.”

And moments later their call was answered when Michael Carrick and Lingard combined well to set up Rooney to head home in front of the Stretford End, much to the delight of Van Gaal.

"It was a fantastic goal, the preparation was fantastic: the tackle of Marcos Rojo, the pass of Michael Carrick, the cutback of Jesse Lingard and the header of Rooney.

"I am very happy about the performance of my players and also a result that means we are top of the group."