FA Cup: Dalot’s strike, Fernandes’ penalty send Man Utd into fourth round
Manchester United secured a place in FA Cup fourth round, recording a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory over 2013 winners Wigan…
Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score his 250th goal in a Manchester United shirt and it was goal worthy of breaking Bobby Charlton’s record, earning his side a 1-1 draw against Stoke in the process.
While in recent years there is no doubt his abilities have greatly diminished and this season under Jose Mourinho he has been on the fringes of first-team action, on Saturday his 94th-minute free-kick was sublime.
United were trailing at stoke after Juan Mata had turned in Erik Pieters’ cross into his own net in the first-half and despite dominating possession, were unable to breach Lee Grant’s goal.
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Mata had an opportunity to amends but his horror-miss from four yards, left the home side mightily relieved after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had set him up for the simplest of finishes with a low cross.
A despairing Mourinho threw on Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard but with both youngsters squandering an opportunity each, it was left to the veteran Rooney to show them how it is done.
Coming on for Mata in the 67th minute to mark his 546th-appearance for the Red Devils, the 31-year-old curled in a beauty from the edge of the box to ensure United went back to Manchester with a point at least.
The great Bobby Charlton was watching in the stands and while it is silly to compare the two, there is no denying that it a doubly commendable that Rooney has broken his record in extremely quick time (546 appearances as opposed to Chalrton’s 768).
Signed as a teenager by Alex Ferguson for United in 2004 from Everton for a hefty sum of £30 million, the pressure was on Rooney from day one, but after a barnstorming hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbahce in the Champions League, he has never looked back.
United remain in sixth place, four points behind Arsenal, who occupy the last Champions League spot but the Gunners have a game in hand against Burnley on Sunday and could extend the gap with a routine win.
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