ROONEY EXIT A SHAW THING
Man-of-the-match Luke sends Derby packing
MASKED: Leicester fan
WAYNE ROONEY’S wish for a romantic victory over his old club came crashing down to earth last night.
Manchester United clinched an FA Cup quarter-final tie at Norwich in reasonably comfortable fashion.
Derby did not go down without a fight but once goals from Luke Shaw and Odion Ighalo had put some light between them, it was always going to be a stiff task.
Man-of-the-match Shaw also had an assist for Ighalo’s first goal, and the Nigeria striker helped himself to another in the 70th minute to finish the job off.
Old Trafford legend and record goalscorer Rooney said this was the tie he had dreamed of, but that is where the romance ended. In the last minute even the visiting fans were chanting for him to score from a free-kick – but Sergio Romero made a brilliant fingertip save.
United fans sang his name throughout but the game went pretty much to plan for visiting manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He said Rooney would be out to prove there was “still life in the old dog” and though the former England striker growled with a cracking free-kick early on, any chance of Solskjaer getting bitten by his former strike partner was soon put to bed.
There had been little to separate the sides in the first half-hour, though United always looked just that bit more likely in the final third.
Derby were looking good value to see the first half out on level terms when they were sent reeling by a double-whammy.
Shaw is not exactly renowned for his goal prowess but he rocked
Derby with only his second in five and a half years at United in the 33rd minute.
Jesse Lingard had a shot blocked and when the ball was only cleared as far as the edge of the box, Shaw was on hand to chance his arm.
There was a real element of good fortune about it, Shaw taking the ball high and thumping a volley into the turf with such power that it flew up off the turf and cruelly over stranded goalkeeper Kelle Roos and into the far corner of the net.
It was almost as if Derby were still dusting themselves off when they
fell further behind four minutes before the break when Ighalo seized on a pass from Shaw close in and whipped the ball home.
You could sense the enthusiasm draining from the home crowd as they saw pretty much any hope snatched away from them.
Rooney’s frustration bubbled to the surface and he found himself booked for a clumsy challenge on Fred before the break.
It was such a shame because the Championship side had carved out the odd opportunity to get themselves in front.
Teenager Louie Sibley gave United a scare in the 10th minute when he drilled a left-foot shot just inches wide of Romero’s right-hand post.
The 18-year-old’s enthusiastic runs were causing problems for the visitors and Shaw got an early yellow card for stopping the youngster in his tracks.
From the resulting free-kick, Rooney lined himself up behind the ball before unleashing a curler over the wall which Romero had to push around his post.
The Rams went close to getting one back in the 50th minute when Martyn Waghorn glanced a lovely header across goal, only to see it fly narrowly wide.
But it really was all over when Ighalo seized on the ball and powered a shot into the roof of the net from 10 yards to put the result beyond any doubt after 70 minutes.