United old boy thrilled to do Jose’s men a favour

WAYNE ROONEY scored his 200th goal in the Premier League to stun Manchester City and revealed he was happy to land an early blow in the title race for his former club Manchester United. The Everton striker, who left Old Trafford in the summer to rejoin his boyhood club, opened the scoring against Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad Stadium last night. City played the entire second half with 10 men after their £54million right-back Kyle Walker was sent off prior to the interval after picking up two bookings in as many minutes. But they fought back to snatch a point thanks to Raheem Sterling’s late equaliser, as Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin also saw red in the closing moments for a challenge on Sergio Aguero. However, with United setting the early pace at the top of the table, Rooney was delighted to do his old boss Jose Mourinho a favour and take points off the Portuguese’s title rivals. ‘It was nice. To do it in such an important game for us, with tough games coming up, it was a sweet moment and I am sure the red half of Manchester will have enjoyed it as well,’ said the 31-year-old striker. ‘It is not bad for someone who is not fit anymore and can’t get about the pitch! I have always put a shift in for the team and this was no different. ‘It was frustrating. We felt we could see the game out and maybe get another goal, but you have to give City credit. They changed positions and made it difficult for us. I think before the game, a point would have been good, but, at the moment, we feel frustrated. ‘When we look back in a week’s time, a point will be a good result for us. ‘Everton have shown their ambition over the summer. We are trying to close that gap on the top teams. ‘We can certainly improve. It is early days still with a long way to go in the season, but results like this will do our confidence a world of good going forward. ‘We have made a lot of signings. We are ambitious and we try to move forward and bring success to the club. ‘I am focusing on Everton. I am sure I will speak to England manager Gareth Southgate over the next few days and we will see what happens.’ Rooney’s goal made it two in as many Premier League matches this season, with Everton boss Ronald Koeman expressing his delight at luring the player back to Goodison Park. ‘I am not surprised about Wayne Rooney,’ said Koeman. ‘I know how eager he was to come back to Everton. We are really happy that he is back. ‘City did not create a lot of open chances. They had the domination in the game and on the counter-attack. But we had some good opportunities. ‘We would have liked to hang on for the three points, but I think a draw is not such a bad thing and it keeps our momentum going nicely.’ Meanwhile, Guardiola said: ‘We lost two points. We are here for the results. At the end, we have to try to analyse things. Ten against 11 — a Europa League team — and we tried. We missed some chances. Even though we scored, we could not win.’