Alex Ferguson praises Wayne Rooney's penalty take against Rangers as the striker claims he wasn't nervous
Manchester United made sure of their progress into the last 16 of Champions League last night for the 10th year in a row with a 1-0 win over Glasgow Rangers at Ibrox Stadium.
The only goal of the game was scored by Wayne Rooney in the 86th minute from penalty spot.
This was Rooney’s only second goal of the season with his first also coming from the spot against Wet Ham earlier.
Last night’s match was Rooney’s first start for Manchester United after coming back from a one week rehabilitation tour in the United States.
Rooney has been living a life under the microscope of the media with his every action blown out of proportion by the Fleet Street crew.
It all started with claims of Rooney’s escapades with a hooker and that followed with tensions in his marriage with Colleen. Then came the biggest of all bombshells when Rooney declared that he wanted out of Old Trafford, only to make a remarkable U-turn
and sign a 5 year contract just a few days later.
After all the recent furore about Rooney, the striker was starting for the first time in the red of Manchester United last night and after a not-so-great game, he showed great courage to step up to take the penalty that could seal United’s progress into
the next round.
Fabio Da Silva was kicked in the face by a Rangers defender and United were awarded penalty by Massimo Bussacca with just 4 minutes left on the clock to play. Rooney stepped up to dispatch the spot kick clinically past Allen McGregor before sending him the
other way.
Sir Alex Ferguson has come out and praised the courage of his star striker who missed several chances in the game but did not lose his composure when it mattered the most.
After the match, Ferguson said, "It took a lot of courage to take the penalty kick. It was not an easy night, he missed a couple of chances but that's what you expect with the rustiness in his game. We are pleased for him. Every time he scores a goal, he
wants to celebrate with the fans and players."
Although, Ferguson praised Rooney for the character he showed in scoring that penalty but the Scott also said that Rooney is still some way from being match fit as he is yet to find his sharpness and cutting edge in front of the goal.
But Rooney, on the other hand, feels that he is ready for the high octane action and all he needs is to get some minutes on the pitch and he will be back to his goal scoring best.
On the penalty issue, Rooney said that he did not feel any nerves when he stepped up to take the penalty.
Rooney added that he knew what he was going to do and if the keeper guessed it and dived the right way to save, then it’s just bad luck but there was no question of him being nervous.
Rooney had been United’s top scorer last season with 34 goals but since the game against Bayern Munich in the Champions League when he injured his ankle, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the England International.
But, Rooney feels that he is back on track and all he needs is the support of the fans. With match winning goals like yesterday’s, it won’t take long in coming.
A win in last night’s game means that United only need a draw in their last game against Valencia at Old Trafford to go through to the next round as group winners.
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