United win as Rooney smashes goal duck
Wayne Rooney's return to goalscoring form was emphatic to say the least
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Saturday, 28, Oct 2006 08:03
Manchester United made short work of Lancashire neighbours Bolton Wanderers as Wayne Rooney rediscovered his scoring touch in a 4-0 win.
The young striker celebrated his 21st birthday earlier this week and from the start he seemed determined to mark the anniversary by breaking a run of eight goalless games for the Red Devils.
After just 11 minutes the former Everton forward had his wish bringing down a pass from Michael Carrick and firing emphatically past Jussi Jaaskelainen to the delight of his Old Trafford team-mates.
Although it came early, the opener was far from undeserved; Louis Saha had already seem a cunning lob beat Jaaskelainen but cleared of the line by a covering defender while an inviting Ryan Giggs cross just evaded both frontmen two minutes before.
With confidence now coursing through his veins Rooney doubled the lead after 16 minutes as a precise strike from the edge of the area found the bottom corner of the net while the Bolton defence stood off.
Gary Speed sent a free-kick whistling wide, but the Trotters attacks were sparse amid United's almost total dominance.
It was not until the 83rd minute that Cristiano Ronaldo again converted the visitors' pressure into goals as the Portuguese winger side-footed home from close-range to wrap up a leisurely win for his team.
But in an ominously-impressive afternoon for the rest of the Premiership United signed off on a particularly telling note as Rooney completed the romp and his own hat-trick with a rocket in the dying minutes.
The one slight dampener for Sir Alex Ferguson was the sight of French left-back Patrice Evra being carried from the pitch on a stretcher after picking up an injury halfway through the second half.