UEFA Champions League Review: Wayne Rooney scores on return to put Manchester United through
All eyes were on Glasgow as Wayne Rooney started for Manchester United and Alex Ferguson returned home to Ibrox. It was a cagey affair with chances far and few. Rooney hit the crossbar from Giggs' cross early on. But the deadlock was broken thanks to Wayne
Rooney’s 87th minute penalty after Fabio was kicked on the face by Steven Naismith as he tried to clear the ball inside the penalty area.
Rooney was a relieved man after scoring his second goal of an ill-fated season so far. He said, after the game, “It’s a relief to score but, hopefully, now I can build on it. I wanted to celebrate with our fans so I went over to them. I'm delighted to be
back playing again — I felt good and I felt fit”.
Alex Ferguson agreed that Rooney will take some time to return to his goal scoring form, as he stated, “He's rusty, that's obvious but that's a start for him. He's still a bit to go in terms of fitness”.
The other game in Group C saw Valencia brush aside Bursapor 6-1 at home to secure the qualification. Valencia have a superior goal difference which makes their final group game against United at Old Trafford more important as a win there for Valencia would
see them win the group standings.
In Group A, Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez is a relieved man thanks to Esteban Cambiasso's 55th minute strike against FC Twente which eased the growing pressure on Benitez. This strike was all that separated the Italian and Dutch champions.
The win ensures that Inter Milan reach the next round – although they will have their work cut out to win the group as Spurs continue to defy their Champions League novice status. Harry Redknapp’s European adventure continued last night at White Hart Lane
as his side overcame a lacklustre Werder Bremen 3-0.
The most popular score line on the night was three-nil. In Group B, home teams won with similar margins. Hapoel Tel Aviv wreaked Benfica 3-0, while Schalke also won with the same score line against Lyon. These results meant that Schalke qualified for the
next round while Lyon and Benfica will fight it out for the second spot. Lyon are favourites to go through as they hold a three point lead over Benfica.
In Group D, Rubin Kazan beat Copenhagen 1-0. The victory meant that Rubin are back in contention to qualify for the next round. Noboa scored a 45th minute penalty to win the game. Barcelona also cruised into the next round with a routine 3-0 win over Panathinaikos,
Pedro with a brace and Lionel Messi topping it off with a wonderful team goal.
Champions League - Group A:
Inter Milan 1 – 0 FC Twente Enschede
Tottenham H. 3 – 0 Werder Bremen
6′ [1 - 0] Y. Kaboul
45′ [2 - 0] L. Modric
54′ G. Bale (Missed pen.)
79′ [3 - 0] P. Crouch
Champions League – Group B:
Hapoel Tel Aviv 3 – 0 Benfica
Schalke 3 – 0 Lyon
Champions League – Group C:
Rangers 0 – 1 Manchester U.
87′ [0 - 1] W. Rooney (pen.)
Valencia 6 – 1 Bursaspor
Champions League – Group D:
Rubin Kazan 1 – 0 FC Copenhagen
Panathinaikos 0 – 3 Barcelona
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