Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has heaped praise on Wayne Rooney following the striker's performance on Wednesday night helped defeat Manchester City in the Carling Cup semi-final.

Rooney was a constant threat to the City defence and eventually got reward for his efforts when he headed home in injury-time to hand his team a 3-1 win.

It meant that the red side of Manchester ran out 4-3 aggregate winners to reach the final against Aston Villa next month. The Carling Cup betting odds make United favourites to win the trophy.

In the aftermath, Ferguson described Rooney as "absolutely fantastic" with his "control, leading of the line and penetration" making it a "world class" display from the England striker.

It wasn't just the game at Old Trafford that Rooney stood out in either. He was Manchester United's best player by a mile in the first leg, taking the City defence on all by himself at times. Then, in the Premier League game between the semi-final games, he scored all four goals against Hull City.

Quite simply, Rooney is in the form of his life and his manager knows it. Elaborating on his praise for the former Everton man, Ferguson said that he is "incredible" and has "matured" this season to become an even better player than before.

As for the player himself, Rooney admitted that "you like to win your derbies", particularly on this occasion when there was an "added spice". The Carlos Tevez situation, the fact it was a semi-final and City's new tag as the richest club around all contributed to this, of course.

Rooney helped United keep the bragging rights though and reminded City that his side are still the number one side in Manchester for now. The gap is definitely closing though, with Rooney the main difference between the two sides over the two games.

As for City, you can bet on FA Cup final football being a priority for manager Roberto Mancini.