‘We went crazy!’ Rooney relief after mad half-hour

SPOT ON ... Rooney converts from 12 yards

WAYNE ROONEY needed just one word to sum up this seven-goal thriller: “Crazy.”

The Manchester United striker answered Alex Ferguson’s call to score more — but he could do nothing to fix his club’s dodgy defending.

Rooney scored twice in one of the maddest matches of the season to keep United top of the table leading into next Sunday’s Manchester derby.

After a game which saw SEVEN goals in the first half, Rooney said: “It was crazy out there — it was not good defending at set- pieces and it could have cost us.

“We had to make sure we were better in the second half and we did that.

“It probably doesn’t do the coaches or the fans any good watching that.

“But we always believed in ourselves and when we went behind twice we came back.

“Having seen the earlier results, it was important to come away from here with three points regardless of the performance.

“When you look back at it, it was like a basketball match, which maybe delighted the neutral fan.”

United boss Alex Ferguson was certainly unhappy with his defence, calling it an “unbelievable match”.

He said: “It was really bad defending — the worst we’ve been this season.
“We need to sort that out because we deserved to be battered tonight but the strikers rescued us.

“In the middle of the first half, I said to myself ‘we’ll need a miracle to win it’ and I’m glad we did. We have had to rescue ourselves after making mistakes like that in games and we’ve had to do it again.

“I knew how important this game was having known the results today but this was a real cliffhanger for us. It was fantastic we got the points.

“It is a ridiculous scoreline for the Premier League at half-time.”

Fergie refused to scold Rafael da Silva, who refused to shake his hand after being substituted.

He added: “That’s nothing. The boy was disappointed to come off. He’s been one of our best players all season.”

Stunned Reading boss Brian McDermott added: “I don’t know what I would call this game. Some of our football in the first half was terrific and we should have got something out of the game.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful to Manchester United because they’ve got quality in depth but this result was difficult to take.

“They have got players who can make the difference. That’s what you spend your money on.

“It was an amazing first half but we are a threat from set plays for anybody in this league.”

« Previous12Next »