By releasing a statement detailing his motives for wanting to quit Old Trafford hours before kick-off, the injured striker ensured he would eclipse Nani's seventh-minute winner, with the Portuguese not even mentioned in the post-match news conference.
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Fans waved banners declaring "Coleen may forgive you but we won't", referring to his wife and allegations about his private life, after the 24-year-old said he wanted to leave the club because of a lack of clout in the transfer market.
Ferguson, who had appeared vulnerable the previous day when describing his shock at Rooney's decision, had a more frustrated air about him when having to field yet more questions about his want-away player when he wanted to talk about the Group C win.
"Why would I want to come and meet you people, the way you behaved? You're as bad as everyone, you don't deserve to be at a press conference, why would I bother with you, the way you behave," he said before calming down to provide some answers.
"What is really important is for us to put it to bed, we don't want it to become a saga," he said, adding that he would be meeting chief executive David Gill on Thursday to discuss Rooney.
Nemanja Vidic could have doubled United's lead but sent his header wide, while Michael Carrick sent a shot flying high over the bar in a match where Ferguson was marking his 2,000th match as a professional soccer manager.
The Turkish champions' coach Ertugrul Saglam blamed injuries to Sercan Yildirim and Ali Tandogan during the match for a worse performance than he had been hoping for.
"Injuries have not helped tonight's performance... I don't be
