UK: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Moyes praises Rooney's brace as Manchester United beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2

Record ID: 336527

  • Title: UK: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Moyes praises Rooney's brace as Manchester United beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2
  • Date: 18th September 2013
  • Summary: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 17, 2013) (REUTERS) MANCHESTER UNITED NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER DAVID MOYES MANCHESTER UNITED CREST (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED COACH DAVID MOYES TALKING ABOUT WAYNE ROONEY'S PERFORMANCE, SAYING: "You know, he has a real chance to be one of the all time leading scorers at this club and I tell
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2013 13:00
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  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAJMUTJ6E83R16MDY5KEL260SV
  • Story Text: Coach David Moyes says Wayne Rooney can become Manchester United's all-time goal scorer after the striker hits the back of the net twice in a 4-2 win against Bayer Leverkusen. Losing coach Sami Hyypia says his team gave United "too much respect."



    Wayne Rooney drew a line under an unsettled few months as he scored twice to chalk up 200 goals for Manchester United in a 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their Champions League Group A opener at Old Trafford on Tuesday (September 17).
    Rooney, whose future at the club had been in question after he was left out of key games last season and was courted by Chelsea in the transfer window, scored United's first and third goals and provided the assist for the fourth.
    "Wayne was great today," United manager David Moyes told a news conference. "He's got a real chance to be one of the all-time leading goalscorers at the club and if he keeps playing like he did today he'll get there."
    The England striker put the Premier League champions ahead in the 22nd minute with a close-range volley and had chances to stretch the lead before Leverkusen captain Simon Rolfes levelled after 54 minutes.
    Robin van Persie re-established the three-times European champions' lead five minutes later with an acrobatic volley and Rooney made amends for an earlier miss by squeezing home a right-footed shot after a defensive mix-up.
    Antonio Valencia made it 4-1 after 79 minutes before Omer Toprak's late consolation for Leverkusen as Moyes enjoyed his first taste of managing in the Champions League group stage with a victory.
    "It is always good to win your next game, that is always your job to win the game tonight and we have done the job that was required, more importantly it was a good start in the Champions League and that's all I was interested in tonight," the Scot said.
    United, who had not scored a goal in open play in their last three matches, showed an intent to remedy that with an attack-minded lineup as midfielders Shinji Kagawa and Marouane Fellaini made their first starts of the season.
    Rooney is enjoying a new lease of life as reached his 200th goal and Moyes said he can become one of the club's greatest predators.
    "If you are going to win the Champions League then you have to have several world class players and Wayne would certainly come into that category," Moyes added.
    "It is really important that you have as many as you can. You can see what some of the teams have got and we have to keep trying to add to that and keep the ones we have already got here."
    Rooney is fourth on United's all-time leading scorers' list, behind Bobby Charlton (249), Denis Law (237) and Jack Rowley (211) and his manager can see him going further.
    "I wanted to get him back in really good condition and mentally correct when he was ready to play," Moyes added.
    "He is moving as well as he has done, he is in a good place himself at the moment and any centre forward that is scoring goals feels good about himself."
    "We lost to a better team," Leverkusen manager Sami Hyypia, making his managerial debut in the competition, told a news conference.
    "United showed quality in their passing game and possession. We can learn a lot from today ... we said beforehand that we should give them respect but perhaps we gave them too much and we were a little bit nervous today."
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