Rooney Spots Similarities

Wayne Rooney hopes that his winner at Fulham can prove to be a lucky omen for Manchester United after extending the lead at the top of the table to 10 points.

The England international netted his 10th goal in 10 games in a manner similar to the way Cristiano Ronaldo bagged an all-important late strike during the 2006/2007 title-winning campaign.

"It was obviously a little bit similar," he admitted afterwards. "I think, after that [Ronaldo's winner], we went on to win the league and went on a great run that season. Hopefully that can happen again after today.

"I think, as you run through, that you always try and assess the situation and what you feel is best to do - if you feel you can score or if a team-mate is in a better position to score. But I fancied the shot and, thankfully, it's gone in."

Rooney conceded United had to dig deep to earn another vital three points with the Cottagers creating chances themselves throughout the 90 minutes.

"It did feel significant," he added. "It was a tough game. It's always difficult coming here and they made it difficult for us. We had a few chances in the first half - hit the post and crossbar three times, I think - bu they made it difficult in the second half.

"We just had to keep going and believe we could get the goal, and thankfully we did. After that we hung on really well. It's a massive three points for us."

The focus shifts to Manchester City as the champions look to reduce the deficit at the top in Sunday's home clash with improving Liverpool.

"We're in a good position, of course, but we're not going to get carried away," insisted Rooney.

"We need to just keep going and taking each game as it comes and see where we are with three or four games to go. That'll be the time we can really believe we're going to win it.

"You never know about tomorrow. The most important thing for us was winning today and then we'll see what happens. Hopefully, City will drop points but, if not, we'll have to just keep going."

Wayne Rooney was speaking to MUTV and ESPN.