Manchester United 4 Feyenoord 0
Wayne Rooney scored a record-breaking 39th European goal as Manchester United brushed aside their Dutch opponents in the Europa League. The Red Devils need now only a draw or win at Zorya Luhansk in the final Group A game on 8 December to take them into the last 32 of the competition.
As for Rooney, having surpassed Ruud van Nistelrooy's United record of goals in European games, he is now just one short of the all-time Manchester United goalscoring record of 249 goals, held by Bobby Charlton for more than 40 years.
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Yet despite Thursday night's win the United skipper simmered with dissatisfaction at the post-match press conference when the talk turned from his goal-scoring feats to the recent lurid headlines suggesting he had drunkenly gate-crashed a wedding.
"All that's created by people like yourself [journalists] asking questions, making a big deal out of nothing," he muttered, when asked about the headlines. "I didn't set foot in the wedding and it's a shame to have to speak about it on nights like this."
Having dealt with the irrelevant questions, Rooney was more willing to discuss Thursday night's victory and what it means for United. "It was a good win, we are pleased to get four goals," he said. "The second goal killed the game, at 1-0 you never know what can happen. It's a great feeling to score goals for this club, I am pleased and there is plenty more to come."
Rooney started the rout on 35 minutes when he ran onto Zlatan Ibrahimovic's beautifully-weighted pass and chipped the ball over the onrushing Brad Jones. The scorer then turned provider, teeing up Juan Mata to slide home the second on 69 minutes, and United eventually ran out 4-0 winners thanks to an own goal from Jones and a deft curled shot from Jesse Lingard.
The game was also notable for the performance of Henrikh Mkhitaryan who emerged from the Old Trafford shadows to showcase his talents. The Armenian was at the heart of many of United's attacks and despite not registering a goal or an assist drove the home side forward and his efforts were rewarded with a standing ovation from many fans when he came off after 82 minutes.
Fenerbahce's 2-0 win over Zorya Luhansk means that they top Group A by a point with one round of matches to spare, but United boss Jose Mourinho struck an upbeat note after the game. "I'm happy, this was a performance and a result," he said. "We were dominant from the first moment, we created chances but this time we scored goals."
Asked about Rooney, Mourinho said: "It's an amazing achievement... I think when you make history it's always beautiful, just beautiful details in your career, and in this case for Wayne it's fantastic."
