Wayne Rooney admitted his relief after playing the central role in Manchester United's second-half rally to beat struggling Hull after his error almost cost them the points. The England striker gave his side the lead moments before half-time at the KC Stadium, but his woefully misplaced pass allowed Hull to win a penalty from which Craig Fagan equalised. Fagan intercepted the errant back-pass and crossed to Jozy Altidore, who was bundled over by Rafael da Silva to allow Fagan to beat Tomasz Kuszczak from the spot. Rooney looked towards manager Sir Alex Ferguson in distress but channelled his energies into forcing Andy Dawson into an own goal and exquisitely setting up Dimitar Berbatov. He told Sky Sports 1: "Obviously when they got the equaliser it was a mistake by myself and thankfully we got the win, or I don't think the manager would have been too pleased with me. "It wasn't a nice feeling, I didn't want to let the lads down and at the time it looked like that but it happens and we got the win in the end." The win took United within two points of Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea, and Rooney admitted: "I think it's a mad league, a lot of teams are dropping points and it's really close. Hopefully we can be more consistent in the second half (of the season) and retain our title. "We knew it was a big game. We had some good breaks and thankfully we got some goals at the end. "It was quite open. Hull committed a lot of men forward and it did leave us spaces to counter-attack." Hull manager Phil Brown was encouraged by his side's efforts as he builds for Tuesday's trip to Bolton. He told Sky Sports 1: "We were well in the game at 1-1, the goal was harsh ? we addressed it at half-time and said to the players 'if we get a goal it's game on,' and sure enough it was. "Our players have done tremendously, to be battling against some of the best players in the world and coming out with a lot of credit and a lot of positives." The Tigers were denied another spot-kick in the first half when Richard Garcia was fouled by Wes Brown, although goalkeeper Boaz Myhill also appeared to catch Berbatov in the Hull area. Phil Brown added: "There was certainly a shout for one in the first half ? although I think Manchester United might have been questioning the goalkeeper and the trip on Berbatov. "It was a good game of football, but the credit we get is down to the performance and not the result. We've got to put that kind of performance in against the teams around us and it's only two days away." * PA Sport