Wayne Rooney scored the second goal as Manchester United beat Arsenal at the Emirates stadium to claim an important victory in the fight for fourth place.
Rooney added to Kieran Gibbs’ own goal before Olivier Giroud returned, after being injured for three months to score a consolation effort for Arsenal. However, Manchester United were able to control the final few minutes of the game to secure their triumph.
Manchester United are still 13 points behind the league leaders, Chelsea, but they are now starting to look sturdier in defense, while they are also showing much more attacking threat under Louis Van Gaal.
After the game, Louis Van Gaal told BBC News that he was now able to rejoice in his decision to deploy three young centre-backs now that Manchester United had taken all three points.
“If Arsenal had scored in the first 20 minutes then it is a different game. And then maybe I have to respond to all the questions asking why I chose the three centre-backs. But now I can laugh.”
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney’s goal proved just how important the Liverpudlian striker is to Manchester United. Rooney was given the captaincy by Louis Van Gaal when the Dutch coach took over from David Moyes in the summer.
There are still some people who don’t believe that Wayne Rooney deserves to be classed as one of the best soccer players of all time. However, the fact that he has secured five Premier League titles, as well as a European Cup while playing at Old Trafford, should be enough to prove his credentials.
In fact, he is even on the brink of breaking both the goal-scoring records for Manchester United and England. Terry Butcher, a former England defender who is regarded as a national icon across the pond, told BBC News that he believes Wayne Rooney is one of the best players in the world, and he thinks that he has got even better since becoming captain for both club and country. Rooney only needs three more goals to equal Bobby Charlton’s record total of 49 for England.
“I see him as one of the greats. Sixty goals would be magnificent but I think he could probably go beyond that.There’s even more maturity to his play. He seems to have got a lot of confidence from that armband. Look at the England players around him who can provide chances, we know he’s a good finisher who can score great goals as well as tap-ins.”
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