Rooney shines as Manchester United maintain lead
LONDON: The star English striker Wayne Rooney emerged as a savior for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United when he scored the decisive goal against rivals Manchester City to give Red Devils four points lead on points table.
Manchester United's English striker Wayne Rooney after scoring goal. Courtesy: GETTY IMAGES
Rooney again proved the old saying that ‘form is temporary and class is permanent’ when he scored beautiful overhead kick goal in the 79th minute of the match. Manchester United came into the match after the upset last weekend defeat against Wolves which also broke the momentum of United unbeaten run of 29 matches.
The match between the arch rivals was played at first pace as both teams were trying to dictate terms in the initial phase of the match. It was Manchester United who broke the shackles just five minutes before the first half when Nani took full advantage of Giggs pass in 40th minute of the match and his clinical finish beat Joe Hart as Manchester United were ended the first half with 1-0 lead.
Manchester United's striker Wayne Rooney celebrates with team-mates. Courtesy: GETTY IMAGES
Manchester City tried their level for equalizer in the second half as Mancini tried different combinations with two substitutes in the first fifteen minutes of second half and lady luck finally favoured the Manchester City in the 64th minute of the match when Silva scored the fortunate goal for the City to equalize the match.
Rooney scored his sixth goal of the season for Manchester United and gave his team lead of four points on the English Premier League points table. Sir Alex Ferguson was very happy with his team performance and said “Nani’s opening goal was fantastic but it will be completely forgotten. Nobody in their right sense will even talk about it. All the talk will be about Wayne Rooney’s winning goal – it was unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like that.”
Manchester United's striker Rooney in action against Manchester City. Courtesy: GETTY IMAGES
Manchester City’s manager Roberto Mancini was disappointed with the result and said “Only a fantastic goal can decide this game. A fair result was a draw. We played very well and I am proud of my players. After 1-1, I thought we had a chance to win it. But it was a fantastic goal that Rooney scored and it changed this game.”
In other match, Arsenal defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers comfortably by 2-0 thanks mainly to Febregas-Persie combination. Robin van Persie scored twice for The Gunners as they maintained their second position on points table with 53 points just four behind the chart leaders Manchester United.
Arsenal's striker Robin van Persie celebrates after scoring goal with Cesc Fabregas. Courtesy: GETTY IMAGES
Persie scored the opening goal in the 16th minute of the match when he converted the beautiful pass of skipper Febregas to give Arsenal lead. Wolves caused the upset last week when they defeated Manchester United but failed to repeat their same performance against Arsenal. Persie scored the second goal for Arsenal in the 56th minute of the match when he again was assisted by Febregas.
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