Rooney went down clutching his left foot after Michael Duberry had accidentally landed on the England forward as he closed in to make a tackle.
After suffering two broken metatarsals in his short career so far, there were immediate concerns the injury curse might have struck again, although Rooney was able to complete the opening period as United dominated without making a crucial breakthrough.
Sir Alex Ferguson packed his side with old favourites as Manchester United began the defence of their Premier League title against Reading at Old Trafford. Of his four summer signings, only Nani even made the bench as Carlos Tevez joined Owen Hargreaves and Anderson in the stands.
Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 2
Under Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho, Chelsea had not suffered a home defeat in the Premier League for 63 games, matching Liverpool's efforts in the top flight between 1978 and 1981.
Former Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell had given the visitors an early lead before Claudio Pizarro and Florent Malouda marked their home debuts with goals for the hosts.
With Mourinho's men looking comfortable, Olivier Kapo drifted in from the left and found the top corner with a spectacular strike nine minutes before the break, to see Birmingham City end the first half on level terms.
Frank Lampard was named skipper in the absence of John Terry, while Birmingham's Liam Ridgewell, the summer signing from bitter rivals Aston Villa, was given the captain's armband in the absence of the injured Damien Johnson.
Forssell was given a warm reception by home fans but almost upset them with a fifth-minute shot from the edge of the area that Petr Cech gathered at the second attempt.
Arsenal 2 Fulham 1
The Cottagers had taken a shock lead after just 52 seconds through David Healy following a shocking misjudgement by Gunners keeper Jens Lehmann.
However, a late penalty from Robin van Persie and Alexander Hleb's strike in the 90th minute finally broke the brave resistance of replacement keeper Tony Warner - on after Antti Niemi injured himself during the warm-up.
Fulham were forced to replace goalkeeper Antti Niemi because of injury during the warm-up. Niemi appeared to have a problem with his hand, and did not emerge from the tunnel, with Tony Warner - who spent time on loan at both Leeds United and Norwich City last season - coming into the starting XI.
Arsenal were without summer signing Eduardo da Silva, who had been struggling with a minor ankle problem. Fit-again Robin van Persie - out since January with a broken metatarsal - returned to lead the attack, supported by Alexander Hleb. Right-back Bacary Sagna made his home debut following his summer move, alongside new captain William Gallas in defence.
Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 2
Villa looked to have rescued a point when skipper Gareth Barry cancelled out Martin Laursen's first-half own goal with an 86th-minute penalty. But then Gerrard curled a 20-yard shot past the dive of Stuart Taylor barely 60 seconds later, after he had been brought down by Stiliyan Petrov. Overall Liverpool were worthy winners with record signing Fernando Torres making a satisfactory debut despite spurning a golden first half opportunity. The £20.2million capture from Atletico Madrid linked up effectively with Dirk Kuyt before being taken off with 11 minutes remaining.
But man of the match yet again was England midfielder Gerrard who exerted so much influence over proceedings even before his goal while Jamie Carragher excelled at the heart of the Reds defence. Villa huffed and puffed with Barry outstanding in midfield but they seldom tested Jose Reina until he turned over an injury-time John Carew header.
They made a bright start in front of a capacity 43,000 crowd and Reina had to be alert to deal with a stinging 30-yard volley from makeshift Villa right-back Craig Gardner. Carragher showed his class and awareness to block a shot from John Carew at the expense of a corner after he had been played in by Gardner. But Liverpool gradually took command and Torres had his first half-chance after 17 minutes when he blazed over the bar from a narrow angle following a long clearance by Reina.
Sunderland 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0
Chopra, a 71st minute replacement for Anthony Stokes, pounced o
n a deep Ross Wallace cross to sweep the ball past a despairing Paul Robinson and get Sunderland manager Roy Keane's Barclays Premier League campaign off to a flyer.
It was a rich reward for the way in which Keane's men had gone about their return to the top-flight with Dickson Etuhu also having had a match-winning chance moments earlier.
In contrast Spurs' multi-million pound strikeforce appeared toothless and the usually inspirational Dimitar Berbatov was shackled superbly by Paul McShane throughout.
Berbatov had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down in the first half and lofted a free-kick over the bar in the second half but otherwise the chances fell Sunderland's way.
Craig Gordon, one of four summer signings named in Keane's starting line-up, could hardly have wished for a more low-key start to life as Britain's most expensive goalkeeper.
As one would expect from a side managed by Keane, the Black Cats had started confidently with Carlos Edwards making good early progress down the right flank.
Bolton 1 Newcastle 3
Sam Allardyce could not have wished for a better start to life as Newcastle manager thanks to two goals from Obafemi Martins. To win handsomely away from home on the opening day is special enough, achieving it at your former club must be especially sweet.
While Allardyce was all smiles - Charles N'Zogbia was also on target - his former assistant Sammy Lee has much work to do. The new Bolton boss has promised to play a more expansive game than his predecessor but they only started performing in the second half. By then they were 3-0 down after looking nervous from the off.
Former Middlesbrough striker Mark Viduka nearly took advantage of a mix-up after five minutes. He managed to get a shot in only to see it deflected to safety by new boy Gerald Cid.
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