Wayne Rooney might not be having the best of seasons, but he still knows where the goal is.
The England forward midfielder forward was back in the starting XI for Manchester United’s Europa League match against Feyenoord, a game in which United needed to avoid defeat to remain n the competition.
Rooney was paired with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Old Trafford, and the ex-Everton man broke the deadlock 10 minutes before half-time with a deft finish past former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones.
.@WayneRooney starts it and finishes it! A delightful chip from the @ManUtd captain breaks the deadlock. 👌 #UEL https://t.co/cw9WZ66FSL
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 24, 2016
After the couple of weeks Rooney has had – including some unwanted headlines for his off-field behaviour – it seemed inevitable that he would find the net against the Dutch side.
For all football’s unpredictability, sometimes the narrative is so powerful it just forces certain things to happen.
Just ask Arnie Lopez.
I knew Rooney would score today
— STARNIE (@reach4starnie) November 24, 2016
Or Lil Rooney Vert
Yes Wazza knew he was gonna bag
— Locatelli 🏁🇯🇲 (@YungKakarot) November 24, 2016
Rich didn’t have his doubts
Knew it was on the way! Rooney 1-0 #mufc
— Rich (@Richard7Hill) November 24, 2016
And as for D.R.W.? We can’t believe you even needed to ask.
https://twitter.com/DD_Dunstan/status/801888487188426752
And it wasn’t just the off-field distractions which made Rooney’s strike an inevitability.
Indeed, as MT points out, there was another crucial factor at play.
https://twitter.com/StraightAtHim/status/801888501188927488
The goal brought up the most important of personal milestones for the 31-year-old.
Rooney now has as many European goals as Queens Park Rangers
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) November 24, 2016
No, wait, this one.
Rooney now United's outright leading scorer in Europe with 39 goals, surpassing Ruud van Nistelrooy.
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) November 24, 2016
And it gave him the freedom to…well…
If he scores a few more goals like that Wayne Rooney can play any piano he wants at any time that he wants.
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) November 24, 2016
And to think people ever doubted him.
As I've been saying for the past 5 years, Rooney is great and should start every game and should always try chipping the keeper.
— Brent (@logoffbrent) November 24, 2016
