249 AND COUNTING...

History man Rooney equals United scoring record in FA Cup rout

IT was a flicker of delight which lit up a dreary and drizzly Manchester day. Sat in the directors’ box, Sir Bobby Charlton’s face broke into a smile of spontaneous pleasure and he led the applause, one United great acknowledging another.

Wayne Rooney may never be quite so lovingly embraced in the collective national consciousness as the man whose record he equalled yesterday. In fact, it would be hard for Rooney to match Charlton in any other respect than his goal-scoring record. This, after all, is a survivor of the Munich disaster and a World Cup winner.

Yet, in recent months, when Rooney has drifted towards the periphery of teams, it has been easy to forget just how significant his career has actually been. As such, yesterday afternoon, albeit against an incredibly open Reading side in as straightforward an FA Cup third-round tie as you will see, was an abrupt reminder.

Indeed, at times we were rolling back the years. There were little touches and passes from Rooney, playing at No10 behind Marcus Rashford, which were a throwback to the teenage tyro who scored his first three goals here for this club on that thrilling debut against Fenerbahce more than 12 years ago.

Then, we all surmised, it might not last, that his career might be short and spectacular. Instead, it was steadier than perhaps many had hoped, but it has also been much longer than we suspected.

The records tell their own story: 249 goals at United, equalling Charlton; 119 caps for England, more than David Beckham; 53 goals for his country, also breaking the record of 49 set by Charlton.

The disappointments are mainly confined to the international game. At Old Trafford, 10 trophies tell of success, even if it has waned in recent years, his relative decline mirroring his club’s.

Indeed, had Sir Alex Ferguson, who also sat in the stands yesterday applauding, not retired, we might never have had this moment, the former manager having concluded Rooney was past his prime. But he stayed and history has been made, though when the moment came, he might have wished it a little more elegant.

Anthony Martial slipped through the Reading defence, set up Juan Mata, who dinked the ball across the penalty area. Rooney stuck out a leg, the ball struck his right knee and deflected past Ali Al-Habsi. A striker’s goal, the professionals would say — an instinctive knack for getting a limb in the right place at the right time.

There have been better goals at more significant moments. So he greeted it with an understated acknowledgement.

Rooney has tested the love of United fans over the years with transfer requests. And as a Liverpudlian, he would always have to work that bit harder for acceptance. But yesterday his name echoed around the Old Trafford rooftops.

Whether he can enjoy a glorious finale to his career in the coming years remains a moot point.

‘The best day will arrive for him,’ said United manager Jose Mourinho. ‘This is not the best day. It’s just a question of when.’

He meant, of course, that he will go on and break the record. In the more immediate future, he will not start against Hull City in the EFL Cup semi-final this week, with Mourinho saying that players rested yesterday would return.

Stay at United, and there may yet be more trophies to be accumulated for Rooney. This was an eighth consecutive win for Mourinho’s team and the United of old seem to be finally stirring once again after three dormant years.

Another United great, Jaap Stam, remembers those days. A promising manager of a bright Championship team, he nevertheless could not provide a serious test to rejuvenated United, even one with nine changes from Monday’s game at West Ham.

‘It was a great experience,’ Stam said. ‘It’s not just an experience if you win a game but also if you lose a game. If you get the chance to play against a side like this,

it’s good for the players. I hate losing — even when you play against a side like United. It’s what the players do with it.’

Within 88 seconds, both Rashford and Rooney had shots which might have opened the scoring. That was a marker.

Rooney’s goal followed on seven minutes; Martial, exchanging a one-two with the man of the moment, drifted through the Reading defence on 15 minutes to add a second. The only setback was a Marcos Rojo injury. Reading, idealistic yet hopelessly open, were beaten before they could get a foothold in the game.

As his team’s energy sapped, so was their resolve. Rooney might have broken the record but was denied by Al-Habsi.

Then, when Carrick’s pass on 75 minutes was nicely measured, Joey van den Berg should have intercepted it but allowed Rashford to finish clinically, curling it home.

Worse was to come on 79 minutes. Al-Habsi exchanged passes with Liam Moore but miskicked the return haplessly, allowing Rashford to sprint past and fairly smash the ball over the line in delight.

That’s 14 goals for the 19-year-old since making his debut just over 10 months ago. Just 235 to go.