Red mist descends on Wayne’s World

The striker was dismissed with 26 minutes to go — just when Manchester United were getting the upper hand — when he received two quick-fire bookings from Danish referee Kim Milton Nielsen, first for a foul on Villarreal defender Quique Alvarez and then for sarcastically applauding the decision.

• Rooney clapped his hands inches from Nielsen’s face, an act that brought no sympathy from his manager. ‘‘I think that Wayne reacts to injustice a bit’’, Ferguson told a post-match news conference. ‘‘He felt that it was a wrongful booking but you can’t applaud a referee. At first I thought he put his hand on his arm, but he had clapped the referee. So he’s given himself no chance whatever.’’

• At Highbury, Arsenal had forward ROBIN VAN PERSIE sent off just before halftime for a clumsy head-high challenge that left a cut on Thun defender Alen Orman’s forehead. Lifting his boot to try and catch a high ball, Van Persie clattered clumsily rather than maliciously into Orman and Polish referee Grzegorz Gilewski immediately flourished a straight red.

• And at Bruges, van Persie’s former captain PATRICK VIEIRA, now with Juventus, was dismissed for a second bookable offence after the stubborn home side had given their illustrious visitors a fright. ‘‘Patrick’s sending off is disappointing’’, Juventus coach Fabio Capello said. ‘‘But we have to just get on with it and find a replacement.’’