LONDON - Manchester United cemented themselves firmly to the second spot in the Premiership table with a facile 2-0 win over Newcastle United at Old Trafford last night thanks to a double strike from Wayne Rooney. The win means United, who still trail Chelsea by 15 points are 5 points clear of third place Liverpool and still have a game in hand.
Newcastle have shown a vast amount of improvement under caretaker manager Glenn Roeder and it is being speculated that he might be handed the job full time. However, even this improvement was no match for Rooney's magical presence last night. Ruud van Nistelrooy was once again left out of the starting eleven, but it made no difference to the final outcome as Rooney ravaged the Magpies' defence.
He intercepted Peter Ramage's back pass to chip over Newcastle keeper Shay Given in the 8th minute and then slotted in his second by collecting John O'Shea's pass in the 12th minute. The home side had the best of the possession and could have scored many more goals, but for the visitors' keeper Shay Given. Rooney could have got his hat trick, but slammed the ball into the post after having rounded Given.
Newcastle did not have any decent chance to boast of and were thoroughly beaten by a superior side. Rooney felt his side could have scored more goals, “We could have scored more — we should have,” he said. “We should have taken a lot more of our chances and won by a bigger margin, but I'm happy to get the two goals.”
Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder praised Rooney's efforts, "I don't know where Wayne Rooney will be in three or four years time but there is every chance he could end up being recognized as the world's number one player," he said. "He is a huge talent and he cannot have anywhere near fulfilled his potential yet."
Match Details
Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).
Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre (Evra 45), Ronaldo (van Nistelrooy 75), O'Shea, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Saha.
Goals: Rooney 8, 12.
Newcastle: Given, Ramage, Boumsong, Elliott, Babayaro, Solano (Dyer 65), Parker, Emre, N'Zogbia (Luque 81), Ameobi (Bowyer 45), Shearer.
