Like the man said, he’s not finished yet. Not by a long way.
Not when the fire still burns deep within to do what he does best and confound
his critics.
On Friday morning, Wayne Rooney is out on his own as
Manchester United’s record scorer in Europe.
That goal No.39 came in a comfortable Europa League win over
Feyenoord in front of a relatively modest Old Trafford crowd of 64,628, a dozen
years after that memorable Champions League hat-trick against Fenerbahce, matters
not one jot.
MATCH FACTS
Manchester United (4-2-3-1):Romero 6.5; Valencia 6,
Jones 6.5, Blind 6.5, Shaw 6.5; Carrick 7, Pogba 7; Mata 7.5 (Rashford 70, 6),
Rooney 7.5 (Depay 82), Mkhitaryan 8 (Lingard 82); Ibrahimovic 6.5
Subs not used: De Gea, Rojo, Fellaini, Herrera
Scorers: Rooney 35, Mata 69, Jones 75 (OG),
Lingard 90+2
Feyenoord (4-4-1-1): Jones 5; Karsdorp 6,
Dammers 6, Van der Heijden 6, Nelom 6; Tapia 6.5, Vilhena 6, Toornstra 5.5
(Basacikoglu 78), Elia 6; Kuyt 6.5 (Berghuis 61, 6); Jorgensen 6.5 (Kramer 73,
6)
Subs not used: Hansson, Vejinovic, Woudenberg,
Nieuwkoop
Ref: Manuel Grafe (Germany) 5.5
Att: 64,628
Player ratings by Jack Gaughan
Rooney deserves his place ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy and a
pretty impressive list of names that includes Ryan Giggs, Denis Law, Paul
Scholes and Sir Bobby Charlton.
Only Charlton’s all-time record for United remains to be
conquered, and surely Rooney has two more goals in him to do it.
His latest personal milestone was reached at the end of an
eventful few weeks, even by Rooney’s standards.
The 31-year-old is not the force of nature he once was,
no-one would suggest otherwise. But his critics have had a field day.
Dropped by club and country, Rooney has been booed on
England duty and written off at United in some quarters. Questions have been
asked if he could still do a job for Everton or even the LA Galaxy.
Then there was the small matter of that 5am drinking session
in England’s team hotel which led to Rooney accusing his detractors of a lack
of respect and ‘trying to write my obituary’.
‘I’m not finished yet,’ he declared last weekend, and what a
way this was to prove his point.
Well, he deserves a celebration this time and won’t need a
late night wedding invitation to justify raising a glass or two.
In securing another personal accolade, it should not be
forgotten that Rooney also helped save United’s bacon in the Europa League,
scoring one and setting up the second for Juan Mata as Jose Mourinho’s team
avoided the embarrassment of going out of Europe with one game in still
remaining.
Late goals from Brad Jones, the Feyenoord keeper who put
into his own net, and Jesse Lingard crowned an encouraging night for United
that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan answer his own critics with a fine performance.
A point away to Group A underdogs Zorya Luhansk in Ukraine
in a fortnight will now be enough to secure a place in the knockout
stage.
The landmark goal that took Rooney ahead of Van Nistelrooy
arrived 10 minutes before half-time.
The England captain started the move by keeping the ball in
play on the left touchline and played it infield to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Rooney was rather fortunate that German referee Manuel Grafe
and his assistants did not see a clear push on Renato Tapia that sent
Feyenoord’s holding midfielder sprawling and created the space for Ibrahimovic
to slip the ball back into his teammate.
The finish was vintage Rooney, though. Cool and clinical.
Nothing like the subdued character who had only scored on two other occasions
this season. He waited for Jones to rush out of his goal before dinking the
ball over him and into the net.
Up to that point, United had dominated possession without
finding a way past former Liverpool keeper Jones who tipped Paul Pogba’s
rasping drive over the bar, turned away Michael Carrick’s low shot through a
crowded penalty box and then thwarted Mkhitaryan at close-range.
In fact, in what was the Dutch side who went closest to an
opening goal in the 26th goal minute when Eljero Elia broke down the left and
easily beat Phil Jones to slide in a low cross.
Sergio Romero, deputising for David De Gea, blocked Rick
Karsdorp’s shot from close-range and then produced a more unorthodox save to
turn Dirk Kuyt’s follow-up effort around the post with the outside of his right
leg.
Rooney’s goal settled the nerves and Mata so nearly added to
United’s lead minutes after the restart with an exquisite chip from 20 yards
which forced Jones to backpedal and tip it over the bar.
The Spaniard then had a goal ruled out for offside but he
didn’t have to wait much longer as Ibrahimovic played in Rooney in the 70th
minute and his lovely reverse pass left Mata with an open goal.
Jones produced a string of saves to keep the score down but
was unfortunate to put one in his own net when Ibrahimovic’s low cross from the
byeline deflected in off the inside of the Australian’s left foot.
And although he got a hand to Lingard’s curling shot in
added time, he could not prevent it creeping in at the near post as United
celebrated their biggest win under Mourinho.
Lingard had come on as a substitute for Mkhitaryan who
deserved his share of the ovation from the United fans when he and Rooney were
withdrawn eight minutes from the end.
The Armenian was making his first start since a miserable
debut in the Manchester derby in September, raising questions over the wisdom
of signing him for £26million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
Mkhitaryan has become something of a curiosity since then,
but he visibly grew in confidence as the game wore on, giving Mourinho’s side
pace and creativity on the left flank.
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