MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United named Wayne Rooney as its new captain on Tuesday shortly after the team beat Valencia 2-1 in manager Louis van Gaals first home game in charge of the English Premier League club. Rooney will wear the armband in Uniteds season opener against Swansea City with Darren Fletcher named the vice-captain. The striker takes over the captaincy from Nemanja Vidic who joined Italian club Inter Milan in the off-season. Substitute Marouane Fellaini scored in second-half stoppage time in Uniteds final warm-up game ahead of the start of the new season. Van Gaal, who signed a three-year contract to succeed David Moyes at Old Trafford, had enjoyed a strong pre-season winning all five of the clubs matches on their tour of the United States. Despite the late victory, van Gaal was critical of his team ahead of the start of the season. "I think it was our worst match today. There was a lot of wrong choices, wrong passes and we didnt press so good," said the United boss. However he was quick to praise the home crowd after walking out at Old Trafford for the first time. "Fantastic. They (the fans) are shouting and screaming your name," noted the 62-year-old Wayne Rooney spurned the chance to give the hosts a first-half lead, when his penalty was saved by goalkeeper Diego Alves in the 32nd minute. Rooney had seconds earlier been felled in the penalty area by defender Antonio Barragan. United broke the deadlock shortly after the restart when Darren Fletcher slotted home from the edge of the area. Ashley Youngs 49th minute corner eventually fell into his path and the Scottish international netted albeit with the aid of a deflection. Valencia almost equalized in the 65th minute when Rodrigos goalbound header was flicked off the line by Javier Hernandez. The visitors were undeterred, and continued to press forward in search of a goal. They were deservedly rewarded in the 71st when Rodrigo blazed a first-time volley into the roof of the net following a free-kick. Moments later, substitute Pablo Piatti poked a shot wide from close range. After being picked out by Jose Gaya on the left wing, he slid his attempt past David De Geas right-hand post and the La Liga side were left to rue that miss when Fellaini struck late on. "At the end we are the winner because we are fighting to the last minute and that is also a good signal I believe," added van Gaal. David Montgomery Jersey . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need. Anthony Miller Bears Jersey . At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-Akiem-Hicks-Jersey/.J. - New York Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara left Monday nights game against the Indianapolis Colts with a torn biceps. David Montgomery Bears Jersey . The Tinkoff-Saxo rider was still dealing with the right shin he broke in a crash which ended his Tour de France on Stage 10. He hoped to defy his doctors and race in the home Grand Tour he won in 2008 and 2012, but he says there have been complications in his recovery. Khalil Mack Womens Jersey . - After sewage backups, toilet overflows and foul smells surfaced the past two years, nothing at the Oakland Coliseum surprises the home team anymore. MILWAUKEE -- The Washington Wizards hope they learned their lesson after almost blowing a 28-point lead Saturday night. Thankfully for the Wizards, they were playing the leagues worst team. Bradley Beal scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Wizards hold off the Milwaukee Bucks 114-107. "We made this game a lot harder than it should have been," said Washingtons John Wall, who scored only nine points and missed 10 of 14 shots. The Wizards opened a 71-43 lead in the second quarter against Milwaukee (12-50), the NBAs first team to lose 50 games. But the Bucks cut the deficit to 104-101 on a pair of free throws by Ersan Ilyasova with 2:13 to go. "Its unfortunate that we have to learn a lesson from this game," said Martell Webster, who scored 15 points after missing two games with a sore back. "No disrespect to that team thats over there. Milwaukees just is in a dysfunctional state," he said. "These are games that we know were supposed to win by a large margin. In this league, you have to kick them when theyre down." After Ilyasova pulled the Bucks within three points, Beal then scored on a driving layup and hit a baseline 3-pointer to give the Wizards a 109-101 lead with 2:01 left. "That kind of stemmed the tide a little bit," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "Those were big baskets." Washington won for the eighth time in nine games. Wall, Washingtons leading scorer at 19.9 points per game, had 13 assists and seven turnovers. Trevor Ariza scored 17 of his 26 points in the first quarter as the Wizards built a big lead. "They werent really missing (shots), and we didnt really help ourselves because of a lack of hustle," said Milwaukees Brandon Knight, who scored 25 points. After dominating the first half, the Wizards missed 13 of 17 shots in the third quarter. Washington scored only 10 points and had seven turnovers in the period. "We took shortcuts defensivelyy, we just stopped playing," Wittman said.dddddddddddd Washington made 29 of 43 shots in the first half and took its 71-43 lead on Beals 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the second quarter. The Wizards led 75-53 at halftime, a season high in points for the first half. Milwaukee scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to pull within 75-65, but Ariza scored on a driving layup with 4:57 left to snap the Wizards scoring drought. Washington scored the final four points of the first quarter and then outscored Milwaukee 30-12 to open the second quarter, opening a 66-39 lead on Arizas 3-pointer with 4:14 to go in the half. But the Wizards missed their first nine shots of the second half to let Milwaukee back into the game. "We kept cutting into the deficit but leads like that are just very, very hard to overcome," Milwaukee coach Larry Drew said. Ilyasova returned from a one-game suspension for punching Sacramentos Reggie Evans on Wednesday night and scored 13 points in 27 minutes. His teammate, O.J. Mayo, missed the game after being given a one-game suspension for punching New Orleans Greg Stiemsma on Friday night. Ariza made six of eight shots in the first quarter to score 17 points and give Washington a 36-27 lead. Trevor Booker made one of two free throws to give the Wizards the lead for good, 16-15, with 5:33 left in the first quarter. The game marked the return to Milwaukee of forward Drew Gooden, who signed a second 10-day contract with the Wizards on Saturday. Gooden, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract with the Bucks in 2010 but was released on an amnesty provision before this season, scored 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench. Notes: Ariza went to the court hard with 6:16 left in the first quarter. He stayed on the ground for about a minute before ris