When Wayne Rooney say it's an "honour" to play for this
Manchester United team, you know Sir Alex Ferguson is developing
something special at Old Trafford. Nobody understands better than
Sir Alex that the club's history has been built on exciting young
superstars and yesterday, the Theatre of Dreams got a tantalising
glimpse of the next generation. A front five of Rooney, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Nani and Anderson average age 21 tore apart struggling
Middlesbrough in almost cruel fashion. At times, United's forwards
seemed to take turns to show off their precocious talents as if in
a television talent contest.
Nani provided the best individual moment, a dribble past two
defenders followed by a 30-yard powerdrive for United's first goal.
But even that was overtaken by the third a delicious piece of
interplay between Tevez and Rooney that ended with the Argentine
netting the first of his double. Rooney also scored, for the
seventh consecutive game for club and country, as United went top
with their eighth straight League win and 11th victory out of 12
games in all competitions. It was also the first time they have
scored four goals in four consecutive games in 100 years.
Behind the statistics lay some breathtaking football. No wonder
Rooney was moved to say: "It is an honour to play for this team.
Some of the football is brilliant. It's the type I like to play."
Better teams than Boro would have been put to the sword by United
in this form. Their 55th-minute third goal is sure to be repeated
on television for years. Anderson's chipped pass was cushioned
first-time by Tevez into the path of Rooney. The striker took a
forward stride but instead of shooting, he wrongfooted the defence
with a backheel that gave his Argentine team-mate the chance to
curl a finish past Mark Schwarzer. "That goal summed their
partnership up," said Ferguson. "It was all about vision,
quick-thinking and courage. Rooney could have taken an extra touch
but he knew Tevez would be making a run so he back-heeled it. A
fantastic goal. When they develop, you will see a complete
partnership."
Rooney seemed almost as pleased to be a provider as a scorer. "The
relationship with Carlos is going well. He is a very clever player,
very intelligent. I was delighted he got two goals. I'm also
scoring goals. That is my job, to try and score in every game." No
wonder Boro manager Gareth Southgate was fatalistic by the end. His
side have picked up just one point in 18 and will slip into the
bottom three today if Tottenham get a point at home to
Blackburn.
"We know these kinds of results can happen at United," he said. "We
tried to come here and throw a few punches of our own, but they are
a class side." Ferguson had to pick a team without the injured Paul
Scholes, Michael Carrick, Gary Neville, Louis Saha and Patrice Evra
but welcomed back Owen Hargreaves from his knee injury.
The opening goal was all about Nani, however. The 20-year-old flyer
left Gary O'Neil and Lee Cattermole for dead before unleashing a
30-yard shot that left Schwarzer clutching at thin air. "A
thunderbolt," was Ferguson's accurate assessment. "It's an amazing
sequence," said Ferguson. "We were winning 1-0 earlier in the
season, now we are scoring four goals in every game." The last time
United went on a scoring run like this was 1907. It may be a little
harder to get four goals next Saturday. Their opponents are
Arsenal.
