Much to his annoyance, Wayne Rooney made the headlines last weekend for a boxing incident inside his own home, where he appeared to be knocked to the floor by a punch from his friend and former Manchester United teammate Phil Bardsley.

Rooney, of course, is a big fan of boxing and he even trained in the ring during his days as a youth player at Everton.

It was those skills that he learned back then that he put on show six years ago today as league leaders United made the trip to West London to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

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It would end up being a miserable afternoon for the travelling Red Devils, who had Paul Scholes sent off in just the 18th minute for stopping Bobby Zamora's goalbound effort with his hand.

Danny Murphy, who had scored numerous goals against United during his time as a Liverpool player, kept his cool from 12 yards out to convert the resultant penalty and put the hosts 1-0 in front.

Rooney came on as a half-time substitute for the injured Dimitar Berbatov, but his presence failed to inspire the 10 men, who fell further behind three minutes from the end as Zoltan Gera, with his back initially to goal, managed to beat Edwin van der Sar.

It all got too much for Rooney, when two minutes later he tossed the ball in frustration back in the direction of referee Phil Dowd. The official took exception to those antics and brandished a second yellow card in the direction of the striker, reducing the away side to nine men in the process.

As he left the pitch and headed for the tunnel, a clearly angered Rooney punched the corner flag with a right hook, much to the delight of the home supporters, who mocked his exit.

Speaking after the final whistle, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson defended Rooney by saying: "Did he throw the ball at the ref? No, the ball went to where the free kick was taken. Did he throw it in anger? Yes, because he wanted the game hurried up. I mean, what can you say about that?"

Later, the Football Association weighed in by adding: "We have clarified with Phil Dowd that there was no abuse from the player after he was dismissed.

"In relation to the incident when he punched the corner flag, the referee did not see that and we have written to Wayne Rooney reminding him of his responsibilities."

FULHAM: Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky; Dempsey (Gera), Murphy (Dacourt), Etuhu, Davies; Johnson, Zamora (Kamara)

MAN UNITED: Van der Sar; O'Shea (Tevez), Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Ronaldo, Fletcher, Scholes, Park, Giggs; Berbatov (Rooney)