Rooney salutes away fans
Wayne Rooney praised United's away supporters after more than 7,000
of them helped the Reds to win a tight FA Cup tie at Aston
Villa.
Like his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, the goalscoring substitute
feels the noise generated by the fans is a key factor in the clubs
excellent record of 11 straight wins at Villa Park.
Rooney told MUTV: It (the support) is brilliant. Some teams
struggle to fill the away end in a Premier League match. Obviously
we get more tickets in the Cup but weve filled it again.
"Its a fantastic effort from the fans. The atmospheres always
good. I enjoy playing at Villa Park and weve certainly deserved
our wins here.
United deserved their latest victory at Villa Park by virtue of
being more clinical in front of goal. But Rooney believes the game
could have gone either way until Cristiano Ronaldo finally drew
first blood in the 81st minute.
"It was an even game and towards the end, it looked like going to a
replay," said Wayne.
"We did well to keep going and Ronaldo did well to get in the box
and put us in a winning position. We were so thankful to get the
first goal because we knew then the game would open up a bit more
for a few more chances."
When Rooney converted one of those chances, it took his tally for
the season to 11 goals for club and country - not bad in a campaign
blighted by breaks for injury and illness.
"Its been a stop-start season for me. But Im looking forward to
getting in a full week of training before the Newcastle game.
"Hopefully Ill be playing regularly again now and helping us to
win trophies."
Rooney would certainly love the FA Cup to be on his list of
trophies won, having lost his two finals so far in 2005 and
2007.
"To lose an FA Cup final is horrible, its disappointing," said
Wayne, recalling the agonisingly unlucky defeats to Arsenal and
Chelsea.
"Hopefully we can go all the way this time, its a boyhood dream of
mine to win the FA Cup."