Clinical Iggy pops Rooney’s bubble
All eyes were on Wayne Rooney but there was no fairytale ending as Odion Ighalo took the plaudits with two goals in this FA Cup fifth-round victory for Manchester united.
Ole Gunnar solskjaer was right about the Derby player-coach, though. There’s still fight in the old dog. And what glory we would have witnessed if two trademark free-kicks had not been brilliantly saved by sergio Romero.
The problem was that united have a bit of bite themselves right now, and it was enough to see them through to a quarter-final with Norwich after luke shaw’s effort was followed up by a double from on-loan Nigerian striker Ighalo. united are now unbeaten in their last nine, winning six of them.
solskjaer sounded relieved to get over the line after Rooney and Co had started brightly.
‘There were some scary moments, especially early on, and I didn’t think we played particularly well,’ he said. ‘At the beginning of the second half, they put some pressure on us. But (then we saw) a nice goal again from Odion and a fantastic save from sergio from Wayne’s free-kick, as well.
On Ighalo’s double, he added: ‘He should have had a third! Of course when you’ve got strikers in, you want them to be happy and confident going into the next game and we’ve got a big game on sunday (against Manchester City).
‘He’s come in here and obviously, we’ve got a few injuries and it’s great for us to have Odion to call up on. He’s a different type of striker and he holds it up well.’
Rooney did his best to stop his old club on a night when he was lauded by both sets of fans, and there were more than a few flashes of the old brilliance as he faced united for only the seventh time in his career.
‘You’ve only come to see united,’ sang the away fans. ‘You’ve only come to see Wayne Rooney,’ countered the Derby supporters, and they had a point. He has become a magnet for this team since returning to English football in January.
At 34, he looks every inch the senior figure with a thick beard and even thicker physique than when he left Old Trafford in 2017. But the touch is still there.
The passing, the vision and the tenacity. Rooney started the first half by clattering scott McTominay and ended it with a booking for chopping down Fred.
In between, he cajoled Derby and pinged a sumptuous 50-yard pass on to the toes of Jayden Bogle. But his big moment arrived in the 18th minute after shaw brought down louie sibley in full flight.
Rooney stood over the ball as expectation built around Pride Park. He curled his free-kick over the wall and for a moment it looked as though it would creep inside the post. But Romero lunged to his right to claw the ball away.
Derby started well, with sibley flashing a shot wide of the post after a good run. But could Phillip Cocu have been bolder with his selection with Derby stuck in mid-table in the Championship? Probably.
There were four teenagers in his squad and just one of the back four remaining from last weekend’s win over sheffield Wednesday. Derby knocked united out of the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford last season but another upset was never on the cards.
united settled after a slightly nervous start and were two ahead by half-time. There was an element of good fortune about their first in the 33rd minute, moments after Derby’s No2 keeper Kelle Roos had been forced into his first genuine save from Ighalo.
Jesse lingard’s shot was blocked by Craig Forsyth and so was the follow-up from Bruno Fernandes. shaw made it third time lucky as his shot into the turf reared up and brushed lingard’s back as it looped over Roos into the top corner.
He also helped set up united’s second four minutes before half-time. This time shaw cut infield and guided a pass into the box for Ighalo. He was up against Forsyth and Max lowe, but rode the tackles before poking past Roos from close range.
Another fantastic Rooney pass to Bogle early in the second half gave the youngster a chance to cross into the box and he delivered, but Martyn Waghorn glanced his header wide.
united sealed victory in the 70th minute. A slick move ended with Juan Mata squaring to Ighalo, whose first effort was blocked by Bogle before he hammered home at the second attempt for his third goal in three games.
All that was left was for Rooney to have his final chance with another free-kick, a curling effort tipped over by Romero.