Wayne Rooney returned to the Manchester United starting lineup on Thursday, and despite things not going to plan for him or indeed the entire team, he still produced one moment of absolute magic.
United looked completely devoid of leadership for most of the 90 minutes, until Rooney decided to simply thump the ball into the goal the way he used to do circa a decade ago.
Both sides of Rooney were on show in Turkey, as the two clips in this post will highlight.
Of all the criticism Rooney has faced in recent months, questions over his first touch have been the most prominent, and when presented with a glorious chance in the first half, he gave Martin Skrtel every chance to block the shot. The former Liverpool man needed no second invitation.
Rooney's first touch is literally a tackle pic.twitter.com/t1s7tbFzah
— Moe. (@NoLaughingMata) November 3, 2016
Then, with time running out, Rooney just hit the bloody thing and picked out the top-corner with an incredible strike.
The good and the bad of Wayne Rooney.
Mourinho faces a real problem with getting this United side to perform consistently. Results and performances like tonight have become expected due to the past three seasons, as just when the team looks to have taken a step forward, like the 4-1 home win against the same opposition two weeks ago.. They take two steps back.
Calls for Mourinho to be sacked are absolutely laughable, this is a work in progress, it just may need more work than first thought.
