BLACKBURN 0, MAN UTD 2

THEY both carry a staggering £30million price tag but one is wearing it as a badge of honour, the other as a lead weight.

The difference between United’s newest star Dimitar Berbatov and the fading Wayne Rooney could not have been more apparent here in the dusk of Ewood Park.

Bulgarian Berbatov shone like a beacon of brilliance amid the dark, brooding hills of rain-lashed Lancashire.

Rooney was consigned to the shadows for long spells, stuck right out on the periphery as Berba ran the show from the middle.

Rooney did score — and might even have had two.

But that was only after he drifted in from his exile on the flank.

At least he played — which was a big surprise after the huff and puff following his injury against Aalborg in the midweek Champions League clash.

A miracle recovery or a classic manoeuvre by Sir Alex Ferguson?

I know what my money’s on!

Click here to see what real Blackburn and Manchester United fans think of today's game - and to have your say

It was certainly good news for watching England boss Fabio Capello who has two key World Cup qualifiers coming up.

Rooney was quickly involved in the early exchanges.

His seventh-minute corner fizzed across the face of goal and although Nemanja Vidic threw himself full length to convert, the Serb only managed to connect with his hand.

Moments later it was the right hand of United keeper Edwin van der Sar that averted another surprise — Blackburn taking the lead. Dutch defender Andre Ooijer romped down the right flank before turning it inside to Matt Derbyshire.

He zeroed in on goal and aimed a low shot across Van der Sar.

United’s own Dutchman pushed the effort away and the alert Vidic charged across to clear from the toes of Roque Santa Cruz.

Remember it was Santa Cruz who came minutes away from sinking United in the same fixture last season — a late leveller from Carlos Tevez salvaged United a point and probably the title.

This time he couldn’t make the breakthrough.

Cristiano Ronaldo then drew boos from the home fans after going down oh so easily in a tussle with Chris Samba.

Ronaldo was again looking considerably short of his best form but the same could not be said of the languid, lanky Berbatov.

His precision pass put Darren Fletcher free in the box and the midfielder should have done better than fire a low shot wide of the target with only keeper Jason Brown — deputising for the injured Paul Robinson — to beat.

Brett Emerton blazed a long-range effort wide for Blackburn before the Reds returned to the attack.

And this time the champions of England, champions of Europe would not be denied.

A short corner routine saw Rooney aim a searching cross to the back post. Keeper Brown went for it with Vidic and namesake Wes Brown.

The first two crashed to the turf together and United’s Brown was left to celebrate after the ball bounced in off his back.

Rovers were incensed, complaining the keeper had been taken out — but ref Steve Bennett waved them away.

And Rooney should have made it 2-0 but wasted a one-on-one, allowing Brown to smother at his feet.United had a scare seconds after the restart when Santa Cruz unleashed a fierce shot that Van der Sar pushed away. But that was the Paraguayan striker’s last contribution as he limped off four minutes later to be replaced by Jason Roberts.

That was a blow for Blackburn and United fans taunted Rovers boss Paul Ince, a former United favourite, with a chorus of ‘Charlie, Charlie, what's the score?’

Ince was famously labelled as a ‘Big-time Charlie’ by Fergie during his Old Trafford days — though the manager did apologise this week. United were now tightening their grip on the game and Blackburn were struggling to cope.

Ince opted for a second substitution — withdrawing the anonymous Morten Gamst Pedersen and introducing Keith Treacy. But before he could settle, United were carving the home defence apart again.

Berbatov surged goalwards from the right and then slipped an unselfish ball inside to Ronaldo who dragged his shot well wide.

But moments later the Portuguese ace surged beyond Martin Olsson to create United’s second.

Rooney, who had ventured into the middle for once, intelligently pulled back away from marker Samba to make room to receive Ronaldo’s pass and then steer it home.

And it might have been 3-0 if Rooney’s lob had dipped an inch or two earlier, instead of landing on top of the net.

The England star said: “This is a great result for us. Over the last few years this has been a really difficult place to come and the conditions today weren’t the best.

“We’ve had a really difficult start to the season. Our three hardest away games, Chelsea, Liverpool and Portsmouth and now Blackburn so we have got four of them out the way and we are still in a decent position in the league. We will try and kick on from that.”

Boss Ferguson added: “They always make it difficult for us here. We have been beaten here a couple of times in the last four or five years but we played well and got what we deserved.

“As for the first goal, I couldn’t see it but I thought the ball was in the air for a long time and the keeper could have collected it.”

Click here to see what real Blackburn and Manchester United fans think of today's game - and to have your say