Wayne Rooney reached 30 for the season as Manchester United booked their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a thumping 4-0 victory over AC Milan.
The England international headed home Gary Neville’s excellent cross from the right in the 13th minute to hand his side an early advantage and left Milan needing to score three times.
Milan had missed two good chances in the opening 10 minutes with Ronaldinho flashing a header narrowly wide before Klaas Jan Huntelaar failed to control Thiago Silva’s great ball over the defence.
Red-hot Rooney put the result beyond doubt in the very first minute of the second half, applying a deft finish to Nani’s superb pass from the left after Milan had gifted the ball to the flying winger.
Park Ji-Sung added a third in the 59th minute from Paul Scholes’ deft ball, firing across Christian Abbiati, with Darren Fletcher’s late header from Rafael’s cross completing a resounding 7-2 aggregate success.
David Beckham’s much-vaunted return to Old Trafford was rendered little more than a sideshow as he remained on the bench until the 64th minute, although one blistering volley from outside the area stung Edwin van der Sar’s palms.
Soared
Rooney’s two goals in the San Siro three weeks ago turned a tie on its head that appeared to be floating out of United’s reach. His latest effort merely rammed another nail in Milan’s coffin.
Neville was the provider for the first, curling over a right-wing cross his old friend Beckham would have been proud of.
Rooney soared between defenders and neatly glided the ball into the far corner.
It was his seventh header on the trot in a growing tally of goals that threatens the 42 which helped get Cristiano Ronaldo crowned as the world’s best player two years ago and the same accolades could easily be being bestowed on Rooney next winter.
Much will depend on the respective success enjoyed by United and England of course. But their talisman could not be doing any more and his second arrived 54 seconds after the restart.
An outstanding pass, delivered from the left-wing with the outside of his right-foot by Nani, provided the opportunity. Abbiati gave the game away by dashing out. Rooney merely prodded it past him.
Having already become only the second player – after Walter Pandiani – to score home and away against Milan in a European tie, Rooney was creating some kind of history by doing it twice.
Beckham
It was the end of Rooney’s contribution, although not United’s scoring.
After hinting at retirement a few weeks ago, Scholes appears to be enjoying something of a renaissance and it was his brilliantly disguised pass that was clinically finished by Park as the gap between these two European heavyweights widened to a gulf.
As there was little else to do, Leonardo introduced Beckham.
His arrival for Ignazio Abate triggered a standing ovation. Had the midfielder’s volley flashed past Van der Sar instead of being beaten away by the veteran Dutchman, it would probably have brought the biggest cheer of the night.
For all the adulation though, Beckham represents Manchester United’s past.
Rooney is the future, which on the pitch – where Fletcher nodded home a fourth near the end – looks rosy, despite the continued vocal and visual protests against the Glazer family, whose willingness to plunge United into such massive debt has vexed so many.
In the stands, the members of the Glazer family who had made the trip from Tampa, would need pretty thick skins to remain unaffected by all the vicious taunts.
With Beckham opting to put a green and gold scarf round his neck as he made his way down the tunnel, the abuse is not going to be silenced any time soon.
