Wayne Rooney might be on the wane but nobody can take this Manchester United record away from him
- Wayne Rooney scored his 249th goal for Manchester United
- Rooney netted the opening goal in the 4-0 win over Championship Reading
- Rooney is now level with Sir Bobby Charlton as Manchester United's all-time leading goalscorer
It came off his knee. In the pantheon of Wayne Rooney’s great goals, it will not rank highly among the 249 he has scored for Manchester United.
Compare it to his overhead kick against Manchester City, the effort from halfway at West Ham, the volley against Newcastle or any one of a multitude of memorable strikes over more than a dozen years and 543 games, and it wouldn’t merit a mention normally.
But when Rooney glanced the ball past Ali Al Habsi with an unorthodox finish in the sixth minute yesterday, his place in United folklore was assured. Up in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, the man himself sat and applauded.
Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring his goal to equal the clubs goalscoring record
So too Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager who signed Rooney for £25million in 2004 but did not leave him on particularly good terms.
Some will bring up Charlton’s two discounted goals against Verona in the Anglo-Italian Cup at the end of his United career in 1973, or others he is said to have scored in other competitions long since forgotten.
But nothing can take away from Rooney’s share of this honour; one that surely will be his outright sooner rather than later. Incredibly, he has reached Charlton’s mark as United’s all-time top scorer 215 games and four season quicker than the 79-year-old legend.
‘It’s a huge part of my life this football club and I’m honoured to be up there alongside Sir Bobby,’ said Rooney. ‘Hopefully I’ll be out on my own soon, but I’ll enjoy today.’
Will they name a stand after Rooney at Old Trafford as well one day? Not likely.
Rooney scored his 249th goal for Manchester United in the FA Cup tie with Reading
The ball may have flown in off his knee but that won't both Rooney one bit
His Merseyside roots shouldn’t count against him in the eyes of United fans, but some will never forgive him for twice holding a gun to the club’s head in contract talks.
That should not detract from this achievement. To maintain his scoring record over so many years in the Premier League era, while also leading England’s attack, deserves all the credit it gets.
Whether he stays at United to the end of his £300,000-a-week deal in two years’ time is another matter.
No one is fooling themselves that he is the same player at 31, even though he provided some moments of genuine class yesterday.
There is something a little demeaning about Rooney leading out United in the Europa League on Thursday nights then taking a back seat in the Premier League.
Rooney applauds the fans after the end of the FA Cup match
Sir Bobby Charlton watches from the stands as Rooney equals his record
He will be back on the bench for the EFL Cup semi-final against Hull City on Tuesday night and, most likely, when United face Liverpool next weekend. That would once have been unthinkable.
That this goal came against Reading in the FA Cup for a United team featuring nine changes was no coincidence.
Surpassing Charlton’s record may actually hasten Rooney’s departure.
It has been suggested that the unfinished business of beating Sir Bobby’s United record after doing the same with England has stopped him looking elsewhere amid talk of interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Major League Soccer and China.
Once the record is his, what will be left to keep Rooney?
When that day comes, however, he will leave with a place in United history secure.
And they won’t even remember that it came off his knee.
Rooney was able to score the record equalling goal in front of the Old Trafford faithful
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