Celebration: Rooney delights in United's second goal Wayne Rooney revealed that the fear of a rollicking from Sir Alex Ferguson inspired him to drive Manchester United to a dramatic 3-1 win at Hull City on Sunday.
After Arsenal had gambled on the fitness of Cesc Fabregas, who led a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa before limping off injured again, Rooney gave the ball away to start a move that led to Hull’s equaliser.
But the striker, who had already scored his team’s first goal, recovered to set up two late strikes which took United to within two points of league leaders Chelsea.
Rooney said: ‘It wasn’t a nice feeling when I made the mistake and I was certainly scared of what the manager might say. Thankfully, we managed to recover and get the goals we needed to win.’
With Chelsea drawing at Birmingham on Saturday, United made hard work of victory against a spirited Hull team but are now in a good position ahead of Wednesday’s home game against Wigan.
Rooney added: ‘It’s a mad league. But it’s exciting to be part of it.’
Ferguson gave Rooney the captain’s armband after Ryan Giggs came off in the second half and he paid tribute to his most valuable player.
Eye on the ball: Rooney drove his side to victory after making a costly errorThe United manager said: ‘The mistake was Rooney’s only bad moment. He was exceptional today.
‘He has that desire. He is a natural winner and has that great determination to do well. He would have been hurt by the mistake but he more than rectified it.
‘This is a crucial period for us now but we have two of our centre backs fit again and we are looking better.’
source: dailymail