t was far from the easy match that many had predicted, and the referee was at the centre of the game, handing United two deserved penalties in the second half that Rooney dispatched with ease as well as sending off Vidic and the home side's Perendija and handing out a host of bookings.
The 2-0 win is United's first in their Group C campaign, and if the Red Devils can defeat Otelul in the return fixture at Old Trafford they should be in a good position to challenge Benfica - who beat Basel in the other game - to finish in top spot.
United seemed to be slightly nervy in the opening exchanges, with Vidic carelessly giving the ball away early on, perhaps a sign of him being ring-rusty after his two-month lay-off, and Anders Lindegaard later rushing out to clear, but smashing the ball against his captain in the 18th minute.
The visitors were playing patiently, but lacking any pace to their attacks, though balls into the box from the left were causing the Romanian defence some problems.
The home side's first real moment of note came in the 27th minute as Filip picked up the ball before ghosting past Nani and shrugging off a challenge from Anderson to fire in a shot, but his effort curled narrowly over the bar.
Meanwhile, United's first clear effort on goal came from Wayne Rooney in the 30th minute, as he bent a free-kick from distance around the wall that the goalkeeper did well to block and collect at the second attempt.
Ten minutes from half-time, Patrice Evra broke through and hit a shot low at the near post, but Grahovac got down well to save.
With less than five minutes to go in the half, United should have been ahead. Anderson fired out a fantastic driven pass to Nani on the left wing and the tricky Portuguese international toyed with the right-back before finding Michael Carrick rushing in on goal, but the midfielder fired his effort well over when a goal seemed inevitable.
Nani was again involved seconds later as he found himself in some space 30 yards from goal, hitting an effort that bounced just before Grahovac, who did well to collect the ball with Chicharito lurking.
But despite the late threat, the sides went in level at half-time with United looking a little off the pace, something Sir Alex Ferguson would have wanted to alter during the break.
Within the first five minutes of the re-start, United were more intent on attacking, but the Galati players looked to be taking more robust methods in preventing them, with Nani fouled twice in the space of a minute.
Just before the turn of the hour mark, United seemed set to lose Fabio to injury as the Brazilian appeared to slip and catch his foot in the ground, but the right-back recovered sufficiently to take his place on the pitch before he was replaced by Phil Jones later in the half.
The United team really were coming in for some severe treatment as Rooney took a a nasty challenge on the ankle before Nani was again chopped down, with both challenges resulting in bookings.
Rooney was fine to continue, and came close to opening the scoring in the 63rd minute, as he collected the ball six yards out and hit the ball on the turn, sending it inches wide.
But seconds later, Rooney earned United a penalty as he was put through by Nani. The striker saw that Chicharito was clear, but his attempted cross was stopped by Sergiu Costin, clearly with his hand.
Rooney picked up the ball and coolly dispatched the penalty, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and putting United in the lead.
Just as the goal appeared to suggest things were about to calm down, minutes later Vidic became the centre of attention, as he was harshly sent off for a high tackle on Gabriel Giurgiu.
The United captain didn't get the ball, but it was an untidy rather than malicious tackle and a yellow card would have sufficed, given some of the tackles that had already taken place in the game.
United were straight under the kosh again as a result and could have been pegged back but for the timely intervention of Carrick, who slid in with a terrific block as Punosevac threatened.
As the match wore on, however, United's experience was telling as they kept the ball well despite their numerical disadvantage. The introductions of Jones and Jonny Evans from the substitutes' bench helped to settle the defence.
With five minutes to go, the numbers were evened up by the referee as Perendija was booked for a second time as he hauled down Chicharito following a ball over the top.
Two minutes later, Nani came close to making sure of the result as he fired in a shot from 25 yards on his left foot that struck the inside of the post and bounced away to safety.
But in stoppage time, Rooney did make sure of the points as he earned a second penalty himself and brushed himself off before firing in a super strike in the same corner as his first, beating the goalkeeper's low dive.
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