Daily Mail

PREMIER LEAGUE RAMPANT ROONEY’S WELCOME FOR SAM

- DOMINIC KING @DominicKin­g_DM

HOW do you impress a new manager? Some players would favour hard work. Others might choose a willingnes­s to listen and learn.

Then there is the Wayne Rooney way. Only the special ones can reach into the realms of fantasy and raise a stadium to its feet, but that is what this gifted individual did. If Sam Allardyce feared he was arriving at Goodison Park to see the dying of Rooney’s light, he will be thinking again.

Rooney had already scored twice when Joe Hart attempted to clear his lines and fired the ball into Everton’s half. With Hart out of his goal, the crowd shouted ‘Shoot!’ and that’s what Rooney did, drilling the most glorious drive from 60 yards like an arrow into the Gwladys Street net.

‘That is as good as I have ever hit a football,’ he said.

In real time, you knew it was glorious, but with each replay, from every angle, it got better. It was the strike of a genius and ensured David Unsworth, the caretaker manager, could end his reign on a high.

Allardyce, when he was England manager, said Rooney could play anywhere and that’s what he did against West Ham, dropping deep, splitting his two central defenders at times, even running deeper than left back Cuco Martina.

Most importantl­y, he played brilliantl­y. This was a reminder that he can still make magic. Allardyce, watching from the directors’ box alongside Farhad Moshiri, will relish the chance to rekindle this relationsh­ip.

Such was the fragile make-up of both teams, the impression through those tentative early exchanges was that they would have gladly shaken hands and taken a point apiece if the game could have ended there and then.

No confidence, however, is usually a recipe for mistakes and, sure enough, two errors in a flash transforme­d the contest. The first came from Pedro Obiang, whose failed tackle allowed Dominic CalvertLew­in to scurry clear; the second came from Hart, who chopped down the young striker.

Hart tried to argue his case but it was the clearest penalty and, strictly speaking, the England internatio­nal should have been sent off, as he was the last man. Only the fact Calvert-Lewin was running on an angle, slightly away from goal, saved him.

‘You would question the penalty,’ muttered David Moyes. ‘But I would also question my defence. How did we allow Everton to turn? We are making individual mistakes now. We will have to eradicate them or get people in who will not make them.’

Here was a huge moment. Everton had conceded first in 17 of their last 19 fixtures but the chance to inflict damage on another struggling team was something they could not afford to pass up and the tension as Rooney steadied himself was palpable.

Anxiety clearly gripped him as he allowed Hart the chance to plunge to his right and keep the kick out. But, for once, the bounce of the ball favoured Everton and Rooney kept his focus to head the rebound into the empty net, triggering a Goodison roar of ear-piercing relief.

Everton did not have to be brilliant but they were organised and committed and wanted it more. Those traits enabled them to get their second goal in the 29th minute when Tom Davies charged down the right and crossed to Rooney, who did the rest.

Belatedly, West Ham found some rhythm, emerging for the second half with a Moyes scolding ringing in their ears — ‘We told them we wouldn’t accept that,’ he said — and going out with a whimper was not going to be tolerated.

So they began to push. Everton, nerves starting to take hold, allowed themselves to be forced back and, in the 52nd minute, they came within a whisker of being punished when Aaron Cresswell cracked the crossbar with a piercing drive before Marko Arnautovic fluffed a chance.

The warning wasn’t heeded and just before the hour West Ham won a penalty, Ashley Williams chopping down Diafra Sakho. The onus fell on Manuel Lanzini to keep his nerve but he aimed for the same corner as Rooney and suffered the same consequenc­e.

Jordan Pickford hurtled to his right to beat the kick away and did so with such ferocity the ball went out for a throw-in. It was a matchchang­ing save and not long after it was followed by a match-defining goal, Rooney completing the first hat-trick of his Everton career.

Williams provided the footnote with a looping header but the night was all about one man — and, for all the chatter about Allardyce, it did not belong to him. After all the negativity and dissent, Everton’s No 10 cleared the gloom. Sam, most definitely, will play him again.

EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Pickford 8; Kenny 7, Holgate 6.5, Williams 6, Martina 6; Davies 7, Gueye 7; Lennon 7 (Lookman 89), Sigurdsson 8,

ROONEY 9 (Baningime 85); Calvert-Lewin 7 (Vlasic 90). Subs not used: Robles, Schneiderl­in, Sandro, Besic. Scorers: Rooney 18, 28, 66, Williams 77. Booked: Sigurdsson, Davies. Manager: David Unsworth 7.5.

WEST HAM UNITED (4-2-3-1): Hart 5; Zabaleta 5, Reid 5 (Rice 77), Ogbonna 5, Cresswell 6; Kouyate 6, Obiang 4 (Sakho 46, 6); Arnautovic 4 (Antonio 62, 6), Lanzini 5, Masuaku 5; Ayew 5. Subs not used: Adrian, Noble, Martinez, Fernandes. Booked: Zabaleta.

Manager: David Moyes 5. Referee: Michael Oliver 7.

Attendance: 38,242.

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