The England striker put United ahead with a penalty after being brought down by Michael Brown.
However, Portsmouth drew level with a penalty of their own and proceeded to dominate the first-half with Aruna Dindane going close on a number of occasions.
United emerged after half-time to take charge of the game though and accelerated into a 3-1 lead thanks to Rooney's first time finish and his second penalty of the game.
Ryan Giggs rounded off the victory with his 100th Premier League goal – a curling free kick into the top corner.
New Portsmouth manager Avram Grant took charge of a team for the first time since his Chelsea side were beaten by Manchester United in the 2008 Champions League final. The Israeli was forced to make one change with Asmir Begovic replacing the injured David James in goal whilst Frederic Piquionne was recalled upfront in place of Kanu who dropped to the bench.
Sir Alex Ferguson took his place in the director's box as he began a touchline ban for his comments regarding the fitness of referee Alan Wiley. Tomasz Kuszczak started ahead of Ben Foster in the absence of Edwin van der Sar. Rooney started on his own in attack with Dimitar Berbatov only fit enough to start on the bench alongside Michael Owen.
Both teams came close to opening the scoring early on with Paul Scholes flashing a shot over the bar from Giggs' corner before Kuszczak denied Dindane after he was played in behind the United defence.
Kuszczak was forced to make another save from Jamie O'Hara soon before Dindane headed wide as Portsmouth took the game to the champions.
Their good start was undone though when Brown brought down Rooney in the box. The England striker stepped up to take the penalty, placing the ball high to Begovic's left to give United the lead.
Ferguson's side continued to look shaky at the back though and could have found themselves back on level terms immediately as O'Hara sent a dangerous free kick into the box. Portsmouth couldn't put the ball in the net though with Herman Hreidarsson and Younes Kaboul failing to make good contact with the ball before Piquionne found the side netting from a tight angle.
Portsmouth managed to pull level on the half-hour though after the linesman awarded a penalty for Nemanja Vidic's tug on Piquionne's shirt, which Kevin Prince Boateng fired low past Kuszczak after missing from the spot last week against Stoke.
Dindane could have put Portsmouth ahead when Boateng sent in a low cross, however he sent his shot wide.
After dominating much of the first-half, Portsmouth found themselves behind again immediately after the restart when Giggs found Rooney to score with a first time shot from ten yards.
And things got worse for the home side when Piquionne gave the ball away to Giggs before bringing him down in the box. Referee Mike Dean awarded the third penalty of the game to United which Rooney dispatched to complete his hat-trick.
Portsmouth struggled to regain the tempo that had made United look so uncomfortable in the first-half, with Giggs going too close to making it 4-1 with a low shot that was well saved by Begovic.
Boateng forced a good save from Kuszczak with a 25-yard drive that the Polish goalkeeper was at full stretch to reach and push wide.
United were comfortable though and Giggs scored with a curling free-kick in the final minutes to round off an excellent second-half display and complete a comfortable victory for United.
However, Portsmouth drew level with a penalty of their own and proceeded to dominate the first-half with Aruna Dindane going close on a number of occasions.
United emerged after half-time to take charge of the game though and accelerated into a 3-1 lead thanks to Rooney's first time finish and his second penalty of the game.
Ryan Giggs rounded off the victory with his 100th Premier League goal – a curling free kick into the top corner.
New Portsmouth manager Avram Grant took charge of a team for the first time since his Chelsea side were beaten by Manchester United in the 2008 Champions League final. The Israeli was forced to make one change with Asmir Begovic replacing the injured David James in goal whilst Frederic Piquionne was recalled upfront in place of Kanu who dropped to the bench.
Sir Alex Ferguson took his place in the director's box as he began a touchline ban for his comments regarding the fitness of referee Alan Wiley. Tomasz Kuszczak started ahead of Ben Foster in the absence of Edwin van der Sar. Rooney started on his own in attack with Dimitar Berbatov only fit enough to start on the bench alongside Michael Owen.
Both teams came close to opening the scoring early on with Paul Scholes flashing a shot over the bar from Giggs' corner before Kuszczak denied Dindane after he was played in behind the United defence.
Kuszczak was forced to make another save from Jamie O'Hara soon before Dindane headed wide as Portsmouth took the game to the champions.
Their good start was undone though when Brown brought down Rooney in the box. The England striker stepped up to take the penalty, placing the ball high to Begovic's left to give United the lead.
Ferguson's side continued to look shaky at the back though and could have found themselves back on level terms immediately as O'Hara sent a dangerous free kick into the box. Portsmouth couldn't put the ball in the net though with Herman Hreidarsson and Younes Kaboul failing to make good contact with the ball before Piquionne found the side netting from a tight angle.
Portsmouth managed to pull level on the half-hour though after the linesman awarded a penalty for Nemanja Vidic's tug on Piquionne's shirt, which Kevin Prince Boateng fired low past Kuszczak after missing from the spot last week against Stoke.
Dindane could have put Portsmouth ahead when Boateng sent in a low cross, however he sent his shot wide.
After dominating much of the first-half, Portsmouth found themselves behind again immediately after the restart when Giggs found Rooney to score with a first time shot from ten yards.
And things got worse for the home side when Piquionne gave the ball away to Giggs before bringing him down in the box. Referee Mike Dean awarded the third penalty of the game to United which Rooney dispatched to complete his hat-trick.
Portsmouth struggled to regain the tempo that had made United look so uncomfortable in the first-half, with Giggs going too close to making it 4-1 with a low shot that was well saved by Begovic.
Boateng forced a good save from Kuszczak with a 25-yard drive that the Polish goalkeeper was at full stretch to reach and push wide.
United were comfortable though and Giggs scored with a curling free-kick in the final minutes to round off an excellent second-half display and complete a comfortable victory for United.
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