Manchester United breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after the FA indicated that it will take no further action against Wayne Rooney or Sir Alex Ferguson in the wake of the 2-0 defeat by Fulham on Saturday.

The FA has written to Rooney to warn him about his future conduct after the England forward’s show of dissent at Craven Cottage, where he lashed out at a corner flag as he left the pitch after being sent off for two bookable offences by Phil Dowd.

Dowd, the referee, confirmed in his official report to the governing body that he had not been verbally abused by Rooney after showing the player a second yellow card for reacting angrily to the official’s insistence that a United free kick be taken from its correct position. Rooney, who had earlier been booked for a foul, hurled the ball past the referee in a temper.

However, he will serve only a one-game ban, which will rule him out of United’s Barclays Premier League game at home to Aston Villa on Sunday week.

Paul Scholes, the midfield player, will also miss the Villa match through suspension after being shown a straight red card for handling the ball on the goalline, from a Bobby Zamora header.

Ferguson also escaped censure, despite openly criticising the performance of the referee, news that will no doubt anger Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, who accused his United counterpart in January of getting preferential treatment from the FA. The United manager had said, “It’s Phil Dowd, so what do you expect?”, when asked for his assessment of the referee’s performance.

The FA said: “Phil Dowd has confirmed to the FA that he was not verbally abused by Wayne Rooney following his red card against Fulham on Saturday.

“The FA will not take any disciplinary action against the player in relation to his behaviour towards the match referee. In light of Rooney’s actions as he left the field of play, the FA has written to him and warned him about his conduct.”

- TimesOnline