RETURN OF THE PREM
ROONEY NETS WINNER
WAYNE ROONEY scored a glorious winner to mark his Premier League return for Everton yesterday.
Rooney’s powerful header beat Stoke’s England keeper Jack Butland and brought the house down at the club and stadium he loves with a passion.
And Rooney had a grin as wide as the Mersey as he walked off to a standing ovation from the faithful supporters who love him as one of their own.
Rooney said: “It’s a great moment.
“Stoke made it difficult for us and we were fortunate to go in at the break 1-0 up.
“But we were the better team in the second half.
“My goal at Goodison was a special moment. To play for this football club again is a huge deal for me and to score the winning goal at Goodison is something special too. It doesn’t get much better.”
Rooney, playing just behind debutant Spanish striker Sandro Ramirez, delivered some clever passes and fed the lively Dominic Calvert-Lewin with some perfectly weighted through balls.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman said: “He was clever and comfortable on the ball.
“That is why we signed Wayne, expecting him to show his team-mates all that experience. That really was the case today.”
Stoke battled hard and were as well-organised and dogged as ever – but lacked the creative touch in the final third where the Toffees never really looked in big danger.
Potters boss Mark Hughes said: “Overall I thought we did okay. I didn’t think there was too much between the two sides.
“Their keeper made a great save at the end to save the result for them.”
Koeman added: “The points are really welcome because you don’t know what to expect on the first day of the new season.
“It wasn’t the performance we would of liked.
“The team looked nervous on the ball – that’s the reason I changed the system at half-time. We need to improve a lot.”
WAS Wayne Rooney’s best subject at school history – because nobody writes it better?
Roo is top of the class when it comes to defining moments in time.
Cast your mind back to the headlines emblazoned across newspapers when he scored his first Everton league goal against Arsenal in October 2002 at the tender age of 16 years and 360 days.
Now fast forward to August 2017 when Rooney’s wonder header against Stoke on his second Premier League debut for the club sent Goodison into raptures as the Toffees started their season with a home win.
No wonder Everton boss Ronald Koeman was beaming with delight as his striker totally justified the Dutchman’s decision to bring him back to his spiritual home.
Koeman said: “You can explain that there was one player in an Everton shirt today who from the first to last second was comfortable on the pitch.
“He made every decision the right one and scored a great goal.
“He showed his quality. He was clever and comfortable on the ball. That’s why we signed Wayne, expecting him to show his team-mates all that experience.
“It was not the best performance at home but it was a clean sheet and three points.
“We didn’t create big, big chances but we defended well. Stoke had just one shot on target. It was not our best game but we had more chances.”
Stoke boss Mark Hughes always knew he would have to take second billing to the Rooney show yesterday afternoon.
And he said: “Probably the only chance for them was a quality ball put into the box for you know who.
“He was always going to be part of the story.” Toffees boss Koeman was full of optimism going into the game, happy with his build-up to the season and the condition of his squad.
He was delighted to reveal that his men had focused minds, that they were physically in good shape, hungry and mentally ready.
But that progress report was seriously put to the test against a robust Stoke side.
Every Everton fan knew it would be tough to replace the monumental presence of striker Romelu Lukaku following his summer switch to Manchester United
Mind you, 5ft 9ins Spaniard Sandro Ramirez gave it a good go after finding space in the 13th minute only to drag his shot wide when Stoke and England keeper Jack Butland should really have been more seriously tested. Liverpool old boy Joe Allen had a few pops, too, against the Merseyside enemy as Hughes’ side responded with their own counter-attacks. Everton’s talented midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye saw his shot deflected off Rooney with Butland doing well to read his intentions and save comfortably.
But it was all pretty meaningless stuff really, with neither side showing any real threat in front of goal in a largely timid first 40 minutes.
Bojan caused Everton hearts to flutter when his floated effort breezed over Jordan Pickford’s bar – but not before Goodison had held its breath.
However, the roof was lifted off this grand old stadium as Rooney got back to doing what he always did best in his early days at Goodison.
The tannoy boomed out that there was one added minute left in the first-half as Dominic Calvert-Lewin arrowed a tidy cross into the box and the Croxteth hitman climbed to the heavens to make it hell for keeper Butland as he sent a powerful header into the top corner.
How Rooney loves scoring against Stoke – he did, of course, hit his 250th record-breaking goal for former club United in the Potteries back in January.
The big question now was just how would Stoke respond?
Would they come out fighting or slump into a self-pity zone?
Hughes demanded that they did the former and the Stoke boss thought he was about to celebrate a glorious equaliser when Darren Fletcher picked up a half-chance and screamed a low shot just a fraction wide of the target.
The Welshman’s heart sank again when Kurt Zouma went down in agony after being caught in possession by Calvert-Lewin who carried on regardless to force Butland into another timely stop in the 69th minute.
Talking of stops, Everton’s £30million signing Pickford saved his best until last on his debut when Xherdan Shaqiri took aim and fired three minutes into stoppage time.
But the new Toffees No.1 pulled off a brilliant one-handed save to deny the little Stoke genius.