WAYNE Rooney led Manchester United's march to within a point of the Champions League knock-out phase even if there is still no end to his goalscoring drought.
Skipper for the night after pre-match drama in the home dressing room claimed Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand, Rooney produced another supremely industrious performance which contained everything but the long-awaited shot which ends up in the net.
Instead, Paul Scholes, John O'Shea and Kieran Richardson took the goalscoring accolades in a win which leaves United needing a single draw to be mathematically certain of reaching the last 16, although in reality, the job is done with three games to spare.
The sight of Rooney, still seven days off his 21st birthday, leading United out of the tunnel was something of a surprise; the immediate consequence of a United dressing room which must have resembled a doctor's surgery in the minutes before kick-off.
Ferdinand was written off completely with a stiff neck but chaos ensued as Gary Neville was initially drafted onto the bench despite being unfit, then taken off it again as UEFA confirmed the Red Devils skipper was ineligible.
Instead, Giggs was put there in his place, presumably still feeling the effects of the stomach bug that ruled him out in the first place.
Disruption
There was no immediate sign of any disruption though, with United almost taking the lead inside the opening 30 seconds.
Rooney was the architect, sending Louis Saha clean through only for the free-scoring Frenchman to fire against the legs of Jesper Christiansen.
It was not the last time Saha wasted Rooney's inspired work. Set up in similar fashion again midway through the half, Saha's shot met with virtually the same result, although on this occasion it at least squirmed through Christiansen's legs before Michael Gravgaard hooked to safety.
An offside flag then spared Saha's blushes when he failed to profit from a third Rooney chance.
Not that the England maestro was entirely blemish-free himself. Cristiano Ronaldo could not have done much more to end his young team-mate's recent barren streak, darting into the area, then chipping to the far post where Rooney inexplicably turned it wide.
It was a rare mistake though as Rooney taunted and teased the Copenhagen defence with all the old swagger.
Yet, amazingly, he still cannot score. Nine matches and counting now.
However, had Gravgaard not got back to prevent Rooney nodding into an empty net after he had audaciously lobbed the ball over Christiansen seconds after the interval, those who saw it would have been talking about it until their dying day.
Challenged
As it was, Gravgaard's intervention was merely the catalyst for United's second, which admittedly O'Shea knew little about as Ronaldo's corner bounced off his standing foot as he challenged at the far post and rolled into the Copenhagen net.
If there was more than an element of good fortune about that effort, there had been none about United's opener, which arrived seven minutes before the interval just as it appeared the hosts were getting frustrated.
Patrice Evra produced another of his tireless bursts forward from left-back, then fed Saha, whose lay-off gave Scholes a bit to do but the midfielder dug the ball out of his feet before rifling a shot into the corner.
It was Scholes' first goal since Boxing Day last year, although most of the intervening time was spent recovering from an eye problem it was feared might claim his career.
Those worries have now been allayed and Scholes is back to form, so much so Steve McClaren has twice attempted to lure him back into the England fold without any success.
Scholes was rebuffed just as curtly by Dutch referee Jan Wegereef on the hour mark, when his claims for a penalty were incorrectly turned down when he was flattened by Christiansen.
Alan Smith could not have wished for a better opportunity than the one fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer presented him with midway through the second period, but he missed it all the same.
How Rooney could do with one of those six-yard tap-ins just now, or alternatively the kind of gift Christiansen presented to Richardson when he allowed the England winger's tame shot to slip through his grasp.
Not that it matters too much. His wait for a goal continues but, as Sir Alex Ferguson suggests, there is no need for concern about Wayne Rooney.
Who was your man of the match? Have your say.
Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
Well another good win probably, Carricks best game yet he gets taken off teachers pet stays on.So many chances some terrific performances.Vidic is without doubt the best defender at United for a decade,Evra played well,Carrick should get an apology from some of our dumbest supporters.
I thought Vidic was man of the match.Liked the guy from the first game he played.Seems to be a throw back to the old type centre half who hits anything thats moves.First half I thought was poor enough.How the hell Fergie expects to win the champions league or anything for that matter with O'Shea and Fletcher in the team is beyond me.We were so bad down the right side of the pitch tonight.Rooney is playing well and just needs a goal which with some luck will come against the scousers on Sunday.
Now now tommy, lets not get too carried away.. I wouldnt go so far as to say Vidic is better than Stam or anything.. Remember he's still new, we re gonna hafta see how he does in the dreaded second season.. last season doesnt count... great win though, it was relaxed, copenhagen din put up much of a fight after the second goal went in.. Oshea had a nightmare in the first half though and Smith really should ve put his chance away.. Oh well, bring on the scousers!!
Rooney ran the game exactly what you want of a captain. I don't care about his age he should be our next captain. Captain Marvel plus***
We will win something with JOS and Fletch playing as integral members of what has become a 'never say die squad'
The fact that we can win games with the guys that some fans love to hate playing the entire match says it all.
We also had Richo, another one the 'fans' like to denigrate score a cracker. The GK may have fumbled it but it was a powerful strike and we need players to take chances from well outside the box.
CL qualification coming soon!
Our strongest team without a doubt is Ronnie on the right and Giggs on the left. Fletcher gives us more bite than Carrick but Carrick and Scholes probably our best bet for CM right now as Carrick is strarting to show signs of why Fergie bought him. Once the season gets into full swing a lot of these passes that are just missing will start to click.
Smudger won't be here next year and Jones for Scholes wouldn't have hurt us tonight.
Fletcher was awful.Rooney captain...fantastic decision Fergie.
i was one of evras detractors last season and i am happy to admit i was wrong as he had another very steady game last night. i dont think i am wrong about the scottish one though as he was his usual mediocre self and contributed absoloutley nothing again
When they play as a team, it's very difficult to pick the best player. However, under the circumstances, I cannot but admire Rooney who plays like his life depended on winning the game. Evra is worth every penny. Ronaldo changes the team appearance. Scholes is one of the best players in the world. Vidic is another great buy. Ole never grows old. Saha should not buy lottery tickets, but then, Henry had games like that.
aussie dave sydney if jos kr and df play on sunday there only be one result a win for the dirties.its only a few weeks since saf tried the dynamic duo in the same team against the arse and we got walloped. these 3 playerARE NOT MAN UTD STANDARD and would not make the squad of any of our major rivals
Great result. Great performance by Rooney,Vidic,Scholes and Evra. Terrible performance by JOS and DF. I got a terrible feeling when he subbed in Richardson instead of Jones. When is that boy gonna get his chance? I feel sorry for the lad, because he has such a talent.
i thought scholes was probably our best player, and topped it off with a great goal. vidic is going to me a massive player for us. i would have liked to have sen jones on tho once the game was sealed, maybe we will se him once we have actually qualified and the last 2 games count for nothing. fletcher works hard but he just hasnt got wot it takes at united i think, i hope he proves me wrong tho - he is certainly getting the chances. saha had a poor nite finishing wise, both solskjaer and ruuuud would have put them away in their sleep.
Agree Bobbydazzler & to be fair Carrick showed well too. Fletcher & OShea have had enough chances IMO they can't cut it.
Shame about Rio and Giggs having to pull out because I was salivating at the prospect of Ryan and Ronnie flying down the wings! Ah well in this case better to be safe than sorry with the scouse on Sunday. Most expected a win and the team did well considering the shift around right at the start. Still pretty disjointed, Scholes and Carrick did well with what was around them Saha hasn't improved on the so so performance from Saturday, Ronnie was never as inept as they tried to make out on the (as always) God awful commentary. Why is it Rooney's pointless attempt to volley in the first half was apparently "worth the effort" but Ronaldo's shot at goal twenty minutes later was deemed "greedy" and he let down his team-mates?? Who the hell other than David Pleats uses the term "Milky" to describe a game? Why does he have to pronounce players names totally different to everyone else on the planet? God bring back Big Ron atleast you could have a chuckle at things like "The defender must of been Lightning Slow for him to lose out to Sheringham" The Rooney lovefest was and is distracting even when he's not playing we have to hear about him, a solid performance from him and hopefully that goal will come on Sunday. Vidic is shaping up to be another cult hero along with Evra and maybe John O'Shea's LEG what a good performance that leg put in if only the rest of the body was so productive. The right side was woeful it was like having two old farts running down the wing chasing skirt. I'm not going to slag Fletcher for not being..well..eh Giggs mark 2 but has that lad got slower? Good goal from Scholes you just knew it was going in, more please Paul you Genius you. Sunday would be great! Also who does David Jones have to kill just to get a sniff? Richardson I suppose, Kieran the new Bellion rubbish but always seems to score. Nice miss from Smith sure Louis was relieved maybe if he concentraed a bit more on his football instead of starting a fight he'd score a few more. Also from yesterday it was nice to see Mourinho taking the siege mentality to a whole new level, Special Needs one definitely. Ah well I'm off out for the day hope everyone enjoys the Fletcher love in as usual.
Scholes,Rooney and Vidic were equally impressive, Carrick was much better yet got substituted whilst the poor Fletcher stayed on Saha missed to many chances which Ole would have buried but another good performance.
Really good performance for the most part, two very fortuitous goals but we thoroughly deserved the margin of victory, I wouldn't quite say it was a great performance because IMO we can still improve in certain areas and could have raised our game further if we had needed to. Thought that the midfield was still too easily bypassed at times with Copenhagen able to cut through us whenever they wanted in the second half which got worse when Carrick went off. Great display by Rooney who seemed to take the captains armband within his stride and he rose to the occasion. If the same team that started last night with the exception of Giggs for Fletcher and Nev for O'Shea we should give the scousers a tough game at the weekend.
This season we've started to look like we have gears to go through, which reminds me of the good old days. For a while last night Copenhagen started to string some passes together and we struggled. This time last season we might have gone into our shell and ended up with a nil all draw. But now the players seem to have a lot more belief and it was a question of when, not if, we would score. Great to see the gooners lose too, all round a very enjoyable evening.
We were tantalisingly close to playing the midfield 4 that I and many others are craving only to be robbed at the last minute. We still need Hargreaves desperately and I must admit I can't see us beating Liverpool if they get Gerrard and Sissoko fit. I hope I'm wrong!
I was pleased for Carrick last night as his passing was trademark in its speed, accuracy and the fact that everything was on the floor. I really like the way he plays "on the half turn" and as such can move the ball on first time. This will help us to counter attack away from home particularly and with the speed of Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha we will always be a handful.
VIDIC ..man what a player...great in air...superb body balance and tackles
Carrick Evera Vidic all cost less together than the price we paid for Rio,who lets face it is well overpriced overpaid perhaps he could convert to being a right back. Celtic did for Benfica in syle.We need to attacl Liverpool at the weekend not sit back like we did against those Gooners.
Scholes.
agreed bobby dazz, as i've said before on these threads, Fletch is ok in a Owen H role (a worker) - his problem comes when he thinks he's a player ! His passing (something which SAF raves about !!) is woeful at best ! but as a squad player he'll make do for now.
Can somebody in all honesty please explain why fergie puts fletcher in the team in terms other than his scotttisness? I have tried to watch and i have seen improvement to an extent[albeit limited] but for the life of me this level of football looks completly beyond him in terms of technique and vision; please somebody reassure me that it is a fergieism ; i just can't see him as a premiership player!!!!!!! Man of the match for me was scholes thought he strutted about and the pace of the game meant he was able to get through without struggling as he seems often to do in the frenetic pace of prem games.
Bobby dazzler; It's not your fault if Evra's playing better.We're all glad to be wrong when it means our team is improving.
FinglasRed is spot on with the right side scenario in the first half, there was nothing really happening. DF and JOS do a good job for us as squad players but both were below par last night. As first choices though never in a million years. But we were without Gary, Ji Sung and Giggsy but why was Phil Bardsley loaned out. He could have had quite a few games now and he is a United type of player. But we won and top both leages and you can only beat what's in front of you.