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The winner was the kind of goal everybody who has seen a football dreams about scoring. I remember commentary on an old United game from the sixties after Bobby Charlton had netted one of his belters. The man with the mic said something along the lines of, “That goal was good enough to win the league, the cup, the Open, even the Grand National”. Similarly, Rooney’s goal was worthy of winning any game, any contest in any sport. He’s back baby.
If the winner was good enough to collect the Wimbledon shield, the team that played at Plough Lane in the eighties could well have constructed our opener as well. Van Der Sar to Giggs to Nani sounds all very exotic and 21st Century, but from where I was sitting it looked awfully like Hans Sellers to John Fashanu. No matter of course, at that stage I feared we were headed for another turgid nil-nil on the strength of the formation we lined up with.
Not for the first time this season United treated a match at Old Trafford like an away game against one of the bigger European clubs. Ferguson has been proven right by his players before, but Wayne Rooney has helped him to sidestep an explanation of why we needed to start against City with effectively six midfielders.
Whether Rooney, the sole striker, was under instructions to marauder around the left wing, or did so off his own back, is open to debate. What is not is that we required javelin tactics and football from the Gods to win this fixture. I am destined for an early heart check up if the rest of the season goes this way. Good thing Fergie is managing the team I suppose.
Football fans are often described as contrary and fickle, this very correspondent wrote an acidic letter to Rooney just a couple of months ago. The fact that I now forgive him probably makes me fall into that category of supporter. However, he dedicated the goal to the fans saying “they deserved that from me after the way I’ve played this season” and has quite possibly scored the best goal I’ve ever seen.
Being stubborn is not admirable, if the facts change I reserve the right to change my mind. The facts have changed. Thanks for the overhead kick Wayne, now please score against Chelsea and Liverpool too.
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Posted by Ndandato sibanda on 02/14/2011
Roons' goal is best ever. Look at how tightly marked he was and the way the ball was coming.
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Posted by Aegean on 02/14/2011
Smalling was great! Evans has to go. Fergie must realise that.
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Posted by Red on 02/14/2011
Very good goal from rooney, i think now mu just need to improve on their away record, and they can surely clinch their 19-th Premier League Titles.
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Posted by Joey P on 02/14/2011
Simply the best goal I've ever seen...and I saw Pele go end-to-end to score in an exhibition in Baltimore 39 years ago...
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Posted by Aaron Mark Hendrix on 02/14/2011
Ah,it does seem like i'm the 1st to comment this time.Yeah Mark,you do hv the right to change ur mind,but for me,one majestic overhead kick doesnt change much.i'll give him props for the goal,but tht goal aside,he didnt do much,as was true for the team.it was like watchin the ARSEnal game again.city played well n better than us,n no one would hv said they didnt deserve to win,if they did.fact is,despite playin average football mixed with fleeting moments of brilliance n dazzlin skills,we're still top,by 4points at tht!!unbelievable.really.if we manage to avoid defeat at the emirates n anfield,we might just be the record holders.but another wolves like performance or two,n we'll be talkin bout wht coulda been.we got good mentality n xperience,but tht alone wont be enuff.i still believe,but am wary.only time will tell.we need to bring in some quality players n the summer couldnt be here soon enuff.hopefully by then,we'd hv won our 19th title,n maybe got rid of the glazers...
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Posted by Josef O on 02/14/2011
You are Damn right Mark...That goal is just enough to win everything there is and more so that it was againest City That talked alot prior to the match and With Tevez wanting to prove a point, I feel the goal should be stored in the manchester Archives...he is back baby no doubt.
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Posted by David Smith on 02/14/2011
There's nothing wrong with adoring Wayne again. I think most United fans were hurt and dismayed by his transfer request, myself included, but I also don't think it's contrary or fickle to sing his name again in praise. It's human nature and I for one am glad the boy's still around. The goal needs no further comment, but our performance has so much left to be desired. Props, however, to the back four, especially John O'Shea, whom I've often been critical of on here. I thought Johnny played well, as did Smalling, whose stock rose significantly after that stellar performance. Yet again though, the midfield was absolutely atrocious. Outsized, outmuscled and outplayed; Fletcher, Anderson, Scholes and even Nani all made for great spectators. I thought Nani actually did alright in the first half, but went missing in the second. The lad may fancy himself one of the best in the world, but he's got much work to do 'till then. Rooney, as usual, was below par but what a way to win any match!
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Posted by wai on 02/14/2011
I thought it will be a boring derby like the previous, but i was wrong. It was the best derby i have watched. Both side play good. We should have scored more goals if Giggs passes were better.
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Posted by aussiered on 02/15/2011
I think the rationale behind fergies thinking is that perhaps he thinks the team is potentially fragile. Losing to the blue nosers was not an option whilst drawing was tolerable. It is the time of year when titles can be lost even if ground is made up later, ultimately the february fevers can find you out. So whilst no one wants to watch week in week out dross, if it breaks that 19th barrier I will take double serves thank you. I for one remember as a kid watching the Scouse title count going up praying with blind optimism that the Doc, Sexton and Suntan Ron could manage well enough and that United would hold it together long enough to win the league. So now we are on the point of history lets not bleat about the hows why and what ifs, Go quietly about your business until the title is lofted high above the red trafford sky and then give it to the bin dippers loud and long!!! Money will be spent in the summer the right players will come and go and the next chapter will be penned.
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Posted by me34 on 02/15/2011
Are you insane? Rooneys goal best you have ever seen?! It wasn't even the best goal scored THIS WEEKEND!!!! I honestly cant believe you people, how short are your memories? Never seen an overhead kick before kids? Rooney has been abysmal all season, he was very average during this game and now he is the best footballer ever to play the game right? Give me a break!
Oh and I am NOT an Arsenal or Man City fan.
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Posted by Aegean on 02/15/2011
me34 is a disgruntled Chelsea fan.
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Posted by Somnath Mallick on 02/15/2011
Rooney's goal was great considering under what circumstances it came and the billing of the fixture. But its by no means the best you would ever see! But about the match Man. City played well. We just did enough to clinch it. Apart from the early chance by Silva, City didn't do enough to open up our defense. I think it all comes down to pedigree of the club that matter when it comes to being called winners and we have loads of it and City.. not that much. I hope made the blue side of Manchester quite for sometime. I am still waiting for that freak Balotelli to open his mouth!! But still there is loads of areas we have to improve, Smallings played well, but i still don't think he is a good defender! We need someone better!! I still miss that graceful football that we played, tired of grinding out results! But i guess we don't have the squad to do that at the moment. But whatever it is, a win is a win!
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Posted by scuba on 02/15/2011
another routine win over the noisy neighbours....
back to the goal...when i was watching the match... i thought it was berba that did that goal. never thought rooney could go all acrobatic and have that kind of "hang time"!
spectacular nonetheless.
let's go rip the rest apart now.
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Posted by oz on 02/15/2011
city were the better team, however our back 4 were great, Vidic and Smalling were immense!!!!
I was quite impressed with Smallings composure on the ball, very Rio like.
Giggs was also great, continually tracking back to help the defence.
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Posted by Bajammin on 02/15/2011
The fact that rooney scores a great goal does not mean he's back scoring goals on regular basis. Lets hope he do so. But we shouldnt get carried away by announcing his return to his supreme form. We might just be disappointed.
Anyway, why is it such a big deal rooney did a bicycle kick. Berbatov always does tat. No doubt rooney pull it off in an important match. But berba does that more often.
Its now nice to speculate who would be taking the no 2 shirt. I reckon sergio ramos.
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Posted by Aegean1985 on 02/15/2011
I think many who criticised Rooney in the derby are forgetting that he did not get much service from the midfield because of the way Ferguson set them up. It can be very frustrating for a striker.
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Posted by James on 02/15/2011
Those who claim City were the better side are laughably naive. Everyone knows when a team are down a goal they press forward with more determination and the team ahead by a goal tends to play more conservatively, leading to the team trailing getting the majority of the possession. Much of the game City trailed. But whenever the game was tied, United pretty well took it to City. Certainly City have narrowed the gap - that has been true for quite a while. But to suggest they outplayed United is silly.
The most important thing for United going forward is that Evans never set foot on the pitch again. Smalling and Vidic should be cemented in the middle with Rio an injury replacement.
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Posted by oz on 02/15/2011
@Bajammin
Ramos, where did you pull that one from??
Im assuming Rafael will be the right back for years to come
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Posted by Peter Pocklington on 02/15/2011
Like when your girlfriend finally delivers it is great at the time but then you wonder why it didn't happen more often. It's the 'Theatre Of Dreams' for a reason and I thank Wayne for delivering. But i also recognize hype when I see it selling newspapers. George Best beating seven Spurs defenders in the six-yard box springs to mind, Denis Law making hat-tricks and spectacular goals routine. Bobby Charlton was described as 'not a great scorer of goals but a scorer of great goals'. Giggs' semi-final goal against Arsenal. Many in-between and many still to come. Thank you Wayne for your humility to dedicate your goal to me and my millions of brethren world wide. Now just keep it coming!
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Posted by KRS on 02/16/2011
This is just a comment on some of the other comments I've read here, and not on the actual article itself:
How can some fans be so oblivious to history that they can demand Jonny Evans' head on a plate? Yes, he has had a bad season, but we have all seen in the past that he clearly has the potential to be a United star.
Up until this season Nani and Berbatov were on the receiving end of similar campaigns, and I am afraid this isn't a new thing. I am sad to see that quite a number of United fans always seem to single out players that are going through a rough patch, and choose to attack them rather than supporting them, and that really annoys me, because I like to believe that United-fans are the best fans in the world, and that we stand by our players.
Jonny Evans will come back with a vengeance and realise his potential, just as Nani and Berba have done! You just need to show patience to a player that wears our colours! If you call yourselves supporters, I suggest you support!
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Posted by jasonwilcox on 02/16/2011
great Rooney goal in a very entertaining fixture. can't get my head around the first post claiming Rooney was tightly marked....doesn't Kompany slip in an attempt to get close again....he had let the man drop off behind him. no doubting the finish though.
as a city fan my biggest concern through the game was zabaleta's inability to deal with nani, and why we didnt attempt to resolve the problem. silva needs to score that kind of opportunity in a derby fixture. on balance it was a tightly contested affair...!
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Posted by Tapiwa Mubonderi on 02/16/2011
This team will proove everyone wrong just two defeats so far this whole season. We have to realise that the younger players need time to mature Evans is going to be one of the great defenders of this generation. He is going through a growth phase. Carrick is one of the players I do not want playing against us. The only gripes I have with this team is the trend it is adopting to fail to secure records, like a champions league group stage shut out, third carling cup semi final, unbeaten league run for united. We are on course to secure two trophies at least this season.
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Posted by JJ on 02/16/2011
Great win against City. As this is our forum, we need to be critical of our team here. Some feel that when someone is critical of MU then they are not b'ing supportive. Actually, it is the opposite. There is a time to baby-sit, encourage and cheer up. there is also a time to wip. We love MU, so we cannot sit back and not moarn when they are not doing well. City were better than MU in the derby. Some players are not performing at Premiership standard, Fletcher, Carrick, Oshea. Their performance is not improving, Carrick has lost his passing ability, Fletcher and Oshea have gone back to where they were when Roy Keane said they were NOT MU material - he was right. At this point MU should be the BIG BOYS of English football (18 League titles), but when we go to City, Arsenal, Chelsea, L'pool and now Spurs, we must go out of our normal game and try to counter them by playing unusual formations. We cannot dominate England, Euro like this. We dread meeting thes teams hence we must change styl
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Posted by johanzul on 02/16/2011
Congrat SAF, mgmt team and players. Agreed with Aaron Mark Hendrix comments (again as one of MU fans who face reality). Was Rooney goal great? Of course no doubt! But the question still remains, simple basic thingy again, strikers score goals but great strikers scored goals consistently.
Yes, footballers are just human being who has emotions and problems in life too. Who doesn't? But that is why these footballers are called professional footballers simply because as professionals they should know better how to
separate personal issues and what had to be deliver on the pitch. If they can't then quit and be just fans, pundits, bloggers, etc mostly like the rest of us who is not professional footballers, doesn't have luxurious cars, mansions, not earned and demanded huge and sometimes insane wages but simply people who love the game spending $$$ for it instead of earning it unlike these so called professionals. So must deliver good results as it's not a request but as an obligation!
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Posted by ovaunrules on 02/16/2011
wayne rooney the world greatest scored the hardest goal.
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Posted by KRS on 02/17/2011
JJ - United are still in a period of transition since we lost Ronaldo (Most people also add Tevez, but he was never as important for us as he is for City). These periods usually last for a few seasons to give certain players time to mature, and other players time to settle in. The fact that we are where we are in the league during this down period is actually quite amazing, because we are currently not anywhere near as good as we used to be.
Yes, certain players need to pick up their game, but I would rather support these players and urge them forward, rather than to bombard the internet with demands for them to leave. If the loudest fans had got their way, both Nani and Berba would have been gone before they got to the level they are today, and Evra and Vidic wouldn't even have lasted six months.
No manager in the game today is more capable than Sir Alex, and with his long-lasting success in this club, I don't see why we as supporters should lose hope in any player before he does.
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Posted by righteous on 02/17/2011
rooney has don a great job for united by puting in that wonderfull goal, up man 4 life steel the best.
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Posted by righteous on 02/17/2011
rooney has don a great job for united by puting in that wonderfull goal, up man 4 life steel the best.
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Posted by oz on 02/17/2011
hey Mark
with the search going on for a new keeper, what are your thoughts on the options ??? including the two we have already
I have not heard the Russian keepers name mentioned with united for a while Igor Af..... I personally think hes an outstanding keeper, very agile
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Posted by TheJepit on 02/17/2011
Thanks Nani, Rooney and the rest of the team....The noisy neighbours status retained..
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Posted by Varun on 02/17/2011
Good one Mark. Gr8 match capped of by one of the greatest goals ever. United take another step towards the 19th. Hopefully they gather momentum from this win as we approach the business end of the season. Rooney and Berba has to replicate their magic in away games also. With a lot of away games lined up the next two months, its very important we stop dropping points away from home. With Champions league, League and FA cup all there to be won, I really hope team puts in right results.
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Posted by kaustub10 on 02/17/2011
roney was one of the worst players this season but a strikers job is not just putting goals you know.Rooney is not like a sellfish player he is one of the greatest players in the games.
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Posted by Winston Jones on 02/18/2011
Although Rooney is not scoring as many goals as in the past, I think he is making a tremendous contribution on the field with his hard work both offensively and defensively. His work rate is admirably and his overall command of the game is still at a high level.
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Posted by JJ on 02/18/2011
KRS - Thank you. I take your point. Let's hope for the best...
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Posted by oz on 02/20/2011
WHATS THE STORY WITH BEBE
Oberton and bebe were shit, but at least Oberton looked like he was trying. Bebe looked as though he couldnt be bothered, or he was unfit?
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Posted by johanzul on 02/24/2011
Hi Mark,
just for the fans to give it a thought, a direct quotation from the Glazers in MU Soccernet page.
"Rooney now has a basic wage of £160,000-a-week, which would rise to close to £200,000-a-week in the latter stages of his new deal. On top of that he earns bonuses for United's success and for goals and appearances."
If an average ticket is £100 per seat and taking into account his wages £200,000-a-week in which he play once a week for one game, it is equivalent to 2000 fans for 2000 seats spending money and watch him play.
Of course this is just Rooney not inclusive other players. My point is, if these professional footballers play like shit, still they earned those wages and fans who support him got disappointment instead as we the fans demand satisfaction of watching 'em play quality football. Well, I'm for one doesn't care to so called bombard these players if they play badly. They deserved to be bombarded.
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Posted by soemoe on 03/12/2011
Posted by bob swager on 04/14/2011
man u is leaving a markon the baclys premier leag and its all thanks to roony give him some creidet hes trying
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About
Mark Payne writes about football for a variety of media outlets. He reported on the 2010 World Cup for Australia’s ABC network and worked at one of the FIFA fan sites. He has been ESPN’s Manchester United correspondent for four years. His writing attracts a worldwide following and in 2011 this blog was nominated for an award. To contact Mark for football discussion e-mail him on markpayne.editor@hotmail.com at any time. He wears lucky socks on match days.
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