32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 30
9. Wayne Rooney (Continued):
Even though the start of the season for Wayne Rooney was superb, he was still silent on goal till November but when he finally did start scoring goals for the club, he actually made a jumpstart. He managed to score a hat
trick against Portsmouth when he finally “did” comeback to goal scoring. Later, he managed to score four goals against Hull City in January. It was just like “old school” Manchester United as they started to pick up pace after Christmas and New Year, just
like they usually did.
From January to March, Wayne Rooney managed to score 19 goals in only 16 matches that he played. Sir Alex Ferguson marked this run as the most “fabulous” run throughout Rooney’s career. Ferguson later told the press that
he missed Rooney when Ronaldo was present and he added on by saying that Rooney was very “important” for him.
Manchester United qualified for the UEFA Champions League and during their run in the European competition, the Red Devils were drawn against the Italian club AC Milan. Milan looked to be in great form as they managed to
defeat the “over crowded” Real Madrid in the group stages. The defense line of AC Milan included the legendary Alessandro Nesta along with the Brazilian centre back Thiago Silva. Beating such a defensive wall is never an easy task and many though that it was
going to be difficult for Manchester United to beat such a wall but things were a little different when the match ended. Wayne Rooney, the only striker, managed to thrash everyone with his devastating form. The English striker scored a brace in the first half
of the first leg. Manchester United won the match 2-3 away from home as they defeated the Italian club at San Siro, the home ground of Milan.
He didn’t only become a star during the first leg, he continued his “amazing” run in the second leg which was played in the best English football ground, the Old Trafford. The world saw Wayne Rooney scoring another brace as Manchester United totally destroyed
Milan’s dreams of becoming the Champions of Europe. The world saw the Red Devils raising their hands after a 7-2, on aggregate victory against Milan.
Sir Alex Ferguson, however, decided to change a few things in the League Cup final at Wembley. The game was against Aston Villa and Rooney was put on rest. The striker urged Ferguson to let him play for the match but Rooney
had to sit on the bench as a substitute. Rooney was on the bench because of fever and the knee injury that he picked during the match against AC Milan, however he was injected in the second half after Owen’s injury and he pulled off an equalizer in the second
half. Rooney helped the team win another trophy as he scored a fabulous “winning” goal from his head.
In the quarter final match of the UEFA Champions League, Manchester United were drawn against the Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich. Munich looked to be a strong side with players like Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery included
in the starting line-up. The “best English striker” during that time, Wayne Rooney opened the scoring for the “thrilling” match but it was the German side who managed to steal a win at their home ground as the match ended 2-1. Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t really
concerned about the loss that Manchester United suffered that night, it was the injury that Wayne Rooney picked up and he was ruled out to play against Munich in the home leg.
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