Red-hot Rooney routs Milan

Beckham return just a sideshow to Wayne's world

Last updated: 11th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Red-hot Rooney routs Milan

Rooney: 30 for the season

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Wayne Rooney reached 30 for the season as Manchester United booked their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a thumping 4-0 victory over AC Milan.

The England international headed home Gary Neville's excellent cross from the right in the 13th minute to hand his side an early advantage and left Milan needing to score three times.

Milan had missed two good chances in the opening 10 minutes with Ronaldinho flashing a header narrowly wide before Klaas Jan Huntelaar failed to control Thiago Silva's great ball over the defence.

Red-hot Rooney put the result beyond doubt in the very first minute of the second half, applying a deft finish to Nani's superb pass from the left after Milan had gifted the ball to the flying winger.

Park Ji-Sung added a third in the 59th minute from Paul Scholes' deft ball, firing across Christian Abbiati, with Darren Fletcher's late header from Rafael's cross completing a resounding 7-2 aggregate success.

David Beckham's much-vaunted return to Old Trafford was rendered little more than a sideshow as he remained on the bench until the 64th minute, although one blistering volley from outside the area stung Edwin van der Sar's palms.

Soared

Rooney's two goals in the San Siro three weeks ago turned a tie on its head that appeared to be floating out of United's reach. His latest effort merely rammed another nail in Milan's coffin.

Neville was the provider for the first, curling over a right-wing cross his old friend Beckham would have been proud of.

Rooney soared between defenders and neatly glided the ball into the far corner.

It was his seventh header on the trot in a growing tally of goals that threatens the 42 which helped get Cristiano Ronaldo crowned as the world's best player two years ago and the same accolades could easily be being bestowed on Rooney next winter.

Much will depend on the respective success enjoyed by United and England of course. But their talisman could not be doing any more and his second arrived 54 seconds after the restart.

An outstanding pass, delivered from the left-wing with the outside of his right-foot by Nani, provided the opportunity. Abbiati gave the game away by dashing out. Rooney merely prodded it past him.

Having already become only the second player - after Walter Pandiani - to score home and away against Milan in a European tie, Rooney was creating some kind of history by doing it twice.

Beckham

It was the end of Rooney's contribution, although not United's scoring.

After hinting at retirement a few weeks ago, Scholes appears to be enjoying something of a renaissance and it was his brilliantly disguised pass that was clinically finished by Park as the gap between these two European heavyweights widened to a gulf.

As there was little else to do, Leonardo introduced Beckham.

His arrival for Ignazio Abate triggered a standing ovation. Had the midfielder's volley flashed past Van der Sar instead of being beaten away by the veteran Dutchman, it would probably have brought the biggest cheer of the night.

For all the adulation though, Beckham represents Manchester United's past.

Rooney is the future, which on the pitch - where Fletcher nodded home a fourth near the end - looks rosy, despite the continued vocal and visual protests against the Glazer family, whose willingness to plunge United into such massive debt has vexed so many.

In the stands, the members of the Glazer family who had made the trip from Tampa, would need pretty thick skins to remain unaffected by all the vicious taunts.

With Beckham opting to put a green and gold scarf round his neck as he made his way down the tunnel, the abuse is not going to be silenced any time soon.

Manchester UnitedTeam StatisticsMilan
4Goals0
11st Half Goals0
5Shots on Target4
7Shots off Target4
2Blocked Shots2
5Corners5
15Fouls13
1Offsides4
1Yellow Cards2
0Red Cards0
75.2Passing Success85.5
18Tackles9
72.2Tackles Success66.7
41.1Possession58.9
50.4Territorial Advantage49.6

Comments (63)

Mike G (Manchester United fan) says...

The two European results last night were very revealing. United with Rooney, now free of the shackles that were imposed on him because of Ronaldo's presence, continues in his rich vein of form. Rooney is also benefitting from decent service and last night was no exception. Nani, Neville, Park and Valencia provide excellent product and Rooney is converting those chances with both head and feet. If Berbatov is in the mood he can add an extra dimension to the play and that is why it is worth persisting with him. He may not do a lot but when he does it can unlock a stubborn defence and get us the 3 points or into the next round. What as difference from the Wolves game - it isn't just Rooney it's the outstanding Fletcher as well. The other EC/CL game was Real Madrid/Lyon - Real now have the brilliant Ronaldo and Kaka - but they are out. Pelligrini said it all - "We were making too many individual plays" because he has too may individual players with too many egos and there is a lack of cohesion in their play. The profets of doom were ready to write United off (no Ronaldo, no Tevez etc.) but we already have a Cup under our belt, we lead the Premiership, we have the top scorer, we have the World's best player, we are in Europe's last 8 and we have just demolished AC Milan 7-2. We have Giggs and Hargreaves to come back into the squad and we have just about our best defensive unit fit and playing. There's a lot to feel good about as a United fan despite the Glazer's unwelcome presence. Moment of the night was the vision of Mr David Beckham wearing the Green and Gold scarf - is he a Red Knight?

Posted 08:20 11th March 2010

Elyass Hashimi (Manchester United fan) says...

Brilliant!!!!!!! Hope they continue their form and everyone was at their best............Cheers United!!!!!!!!1

Posted 08:19 11th March 2010

Tarekegn Abera says...

Please, stop quarreling each other and just pass the cup to Man Utd. Allready known.

Posted 08:19 11th March 2010

David Todd (Leeds United fan) says...

I am a big Leeds fan and cannot bare to say this about a Man Utd player, But it is great to see Rooney in this kind of form with the World Cup around the corner and at the end of the day when the World Cup startes we are all England there is no Man Utd or Leeds its all about us been one for England, The old saying of "one player does not make a team" Well how many times this season has Rooney proved that theory wrong, Maradonna did it for Argentina and with the form Rooney is in you never know this year it could be ours!!!

Posted 07:59 11th March 2010

Jack Mack (Manchester United fan) says...

Amazing game! We will go on to win leauge and champions leauge. Unlucky Milan!

Posted 07:58 11th March 2010

Haggie Haggiey (Manchester United fan) says...

Red-hot Rooney is in a gre8t form,and lets hope he wiil take this form here in Africa.Keep it up wazza

Posted 07:38 11th March 2010

Ayo Alarape (Arsenal fan) says...

Good game and good result. Thumb up for King Rooney and a warm home coming for the great ambassador Becks. We can see so clearly now that no one can claim to be an island, Ronaldo left, Rooney fitted in so well. Isn't it glaring now that EPL is the strongest.

Posted 07:36 11th March 2010

Adesoji Oke (Manchester United fan) says...

Man U rout of Milan was excellent! Whenever Rooney touches the ball, my heart skip a beat bcos you can't just tell what next he will do with the ball! He is in form. congrats all Man u fan there.

Posted 07:36 11th March 2010

Emmanuel Uwandulu (Manchester City fan) says...

Wonder if Rooney would be doing this exploits if CR7 had stayed on. Rooney is a delight to watch,fantastic team play by Man utd.

Posted 06:55 11th March 2010

Kel - (Manchester United fan) says...

Rooney was awesome, taking first chances to score and that gives us cusion to play. Nani improves as the game goes on. The right back of Milan couldn't handle him and with time and space, he works his magic. Park for me was the MOTM for both legs. He works his socks off and nice to get his credit. Fletcher and Scholes working thier magic as well.Overall a nice defense and performance by the whole team and it was worth it to watch!

Posted 05:50 11th March 2010

Shakey S (AC Milan fan) says...

All im going to say is man utd deserved to win no doubt.. Their performance was at its peak judging by the scoreline and counter attacks they did... However it would have been a completely different ball game if we had our full squad.. (Injured: Nesta, Pato) I personally think if only our manager played the right players in the right positions.. Abate isnt a right back hes a midfielder... How can u take off Abate (a right back) and replace him with an attacking player... That leaves with u 3 defenders and ur losing by two goals :s Beckham and Seedorf should have been in the starting line up not the bench. If only Silvio Berlusconi was to appoint me manager of the club...

Posted 05:47 11th March 2010

Fred Okeyo (Manchester United fan) says...

Great game utd. Couldn't have been more happy2 be a fan than i was yesterday.

Posted 05:18 11th March 2010

Homzie D (Manchester United fan) says...

How do you stop Wayne Rooney at the moment? You just can't! He is unstoppable at the moment! The 2 most successful teams in Europe are out in the space of 90 minutes! Arsenal did English football proud on Tues night, Man United did the same last night, now, over to Chelsea next week! We all know who the real 'special one' is. You can't beat passion, desire and belief and we had plenty of them. Make no mistake, Milan are a quality side with some fantastic players but, we were better than them last night. English football has one thing that other European leagues don't - the desire and the belief to succeed! That is why the likes of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have been so successful in Europe. Now, Wazza, 45 goals (maybe more) this season is within sights!!!

Posted 03:42 11th March 2010

Dee Tees (Arsenal fan) says...

No arguements from me, Rooney is the best in the premier league, the best in Europe which would make him the best in the world.....let us hope he stays fit for the world cup.

Posted 03:37 11th March 2010

Curtis Sinclair (Arsenal fan) says...

As everyone knows soccer is not one of the box office sports in the states so it's great for me that i can continue to watch the English Premier and the Champions League on the cable network. Great results for Arsenal and Man U and hopefully Chelsea will join them in the quarters too. The whole of Europe are reminded that they will have to deal with the English teams if they want to put their hands on that trophy.

Posted 03:33 11th March 2010

Moon Kim (Manchester United fan) says...

I was again impressed by Park Ji Sung. he knows how to lead his team to the victory. his pace, quality and positioning all brilliant tonight. No one can doubt his skill and quality now. It is a pity that he is still underrated from people.

Posted 02:45 11th March 2010

Anthony Little (Manchester United fan) says...

Have to disagree with some peeps here. I think Rooney would have been this good this season with or without Ronaldo. I wont pretend to know the ins & outs of United's training sessions, but Rooney was (apparantly) working on his headers pre season and thats paid off, personally I think him and Ronaldo would have wrapped up this Premier League up by now. Would love to have Ronny back, and so would United..balls to the £80m...what goods that brought us?

Posted 02:39 11th March 2010

David Borg (Manchester United fan) says...

I' ve said it before and I'll say it again, Rooney for Prime Minister! :)

Posted 01:50 11th March 2010

Dom Kendall (Manchester United fan) says...

Fantastic result boys this season has exceeded my expectations with mr. ronaldo leaving and the injuries we have had.. Did not see much of Berbertov after he was inserted was he out for a country stroll?? I forecast that Rooney would score one goal in the game. Well done Rooney and United.

Posted 01:35 11th March 2010

Sean Orr (Liverpool fan) says...

Hate to say it, but United consistantly every year turn it on in the Champion League.....Its all good for Rooney hitting 43, but more games mean more on him, we need him ready and injury free for the World Cup...if he is out then ....well

Posted 01:07 11th March 2010

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