Rooney Fulfills Boyhood Dream

Wayne Rooney says scoring against Liverpool at Old Trafford was like a dream come true after his quickfire double inspired a triumphant 2-1 win in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.

The United striker netted twice in four minutes to all but seal victory during an eventful afternoon at the Theatre of Dreams, where the Reds survived a late scare to secure three precious points and move clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.

Rooney, who has now bagged 17 league goals this season, is also adamant that United were the better team and believes the game was ultimately won in the opening moments of the second half when his goals sent Liverpool into submission.

In an interview with MUTV, Rooney said: “It’s a great feeling to score two goals against Liverpool at Old Trafford, which obviously helped us win the game and get three points which is something that I had dreamed about as a young boy.

“I think Liverpool came to frustrate us by putting men behind the ball, they did that to a certain extent but we kept pushing and opened them up a couple of times.

“We maybe should have done better in front of goal so when we went in to half time at 0-0, we knew we had to concentrate and come out quickly.

“We managed to do that and get the two goals early on. It was a great lift for us. It killed the game off a little bit and we felt we were in control.

“They had a little bit more of possession but they didn’t really trouble us to be honest. They hit a few long balls into the box which we dealt with quite well and thankfully we saw the game out.

“Anything can happen in these games. Once they got the goal we knew we had to see the game out and we retreated a little bit to get men behind the ball and try to hit them on the counter attack. Thankfully, we managed to see it out and get the three points.”

Rooney also paid tribute to Antonio Valencia, who continued his fine form to assist United’s second goal whilst giving opposition fullback Jose Enrique a torrid time on the wing.

“Enrique is a great fullback, he’s very quick and powerful and is very similar to Antonio with a similar build. But I thought Antonio did really well as he has done in the last few weeks. Hopefully he can continue that form because he’s a big player for us.”