Manchester United defeated rivals City despite being reduced to ten men after Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off.

A thrilling Manchester derby ended in a 1-0 victory for the visitors after Wayne Rooney scored his 100th goal in club football with a tap-in three minutes from half-time.

Ronaldo picked up a second yellow card midway through the second half with what appeared to be a blatant deliberate handball.

The Portugal striker appeared to complain he was pushed from behind as he jumped for a Rooney corner, but referee Howard Webb was left with little alternative than to show him a red card.

Ronaldo had already hacked down Shaun Wright-Phillips from behind and sarcastically claped Webb when the referee booked him.

United continued to attack despite being a man down and City's Richard Dunne put in a crucial tackle to deny Dimitar Berbatov just inside the box in the 82nd minute.

An amazing few seconds in stoppage time saw United's Patrice Evra scramble Dunne's shot off the line.

United collected the ball with City keeper Joe Hart far off his line, but he raced back in time to palm Rooney's 50-yard chip away just as it was about to drop in.

Asked about Ronaldo's dismissal, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: "I have seen it again and I think he was trying to protect his face.

"He may have got a little shove. He thought he had heard a whistle but I am not going to talk about the referee. We could be here all day."

Sir Alex added: "We needed three points today. We are behind Liverpool and Chelsea. We are chasing them and we needed to win the game today to get ourselves near them.

"We have had a significant result today and I hope it makes a difference."

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