The return of the Premier League may have dominated the footballing sphere over the weekend but one of the division’s former icons made sure his name was in the headlines following an amazing assist for DC United in a last-gasp win over Orlando City.
Former Everton and Man Utd star Wayne Rooney may now ply his trade across the other side of the pond, but on Sunday he proved he can still conjure up moments of magic.
His new side, DC United, were drawing 2-2 with Orlando City in the 96th minute of the match, with only seconds left on the clock.
DC, who had their own goalkeeper in the mixer, swung in a corner only for Orlando to scramble the ball clear and in turn make a breakaway on the left wing.
But skipper Rooney, in typical Rooney style, showed buckets of heart, determination and guts as he sprinted back to make a game-saving sliding tackle to deny what would have a simple passage through on an empty goal.
And he wasn’t done there.
The former England captain took a few touches as he ventured into the opposition half, before pinging a long pin-point ball into the penalty box, right onto the noggin of Luciano Acosta who headed home for his hat-trick as the hosts came out 3-2 winners in quite incredible fashion.
After the match, Rooney told Fox Sports:
"I saw our goalkeeper go up at 2-2 and I was surprised, I was thinking well, what's he doing?"
"He was already there too far to tell him to go back. So I managed to just try and anticipate and told them to stay in the box and thankfully I got the tackle and Luciano [Acosta] with a great header.
"I'm delighted."
