Where Does Wayne Rooney's MLS Wonder Strike Rank Amongst His Best Goals?

Where Does Wayne Rooney's MLS Wonder Strike Rank Amongst His Best Goals?
10:15, 27 Jun 2019

Wayne Rooney scored yet another stunner from his own half, for the third time in his career, to help DC United beat Orlando overnight in the MLS. 

The 33-year-old has scored a hatful of beauties among his 354 goals for club and country and below we’ve picked out five of his very best, in no particular order:

Vs Orlando City, 2019

Rooney’s 60-yard stonker on Wednesday for DC United night means he has now scored from inside his own half for each of the clubs he’s played for and it might just well be the best of the bunch, finding the back of the net with ridiculous ease.

It was the only goal of the game and the three points mean the Washington outfit are now just two points shy of table-topping Philadelphia.

England’s all-time top scorer is currently thriving stateside and has now been involved in 30 goals in 36 appearances in the MLS.

Vs Arsenal, 2002

The goal that introduced the world to Wazza. 

Coming off the bench, Rooney's unforgettable winner against Arsenal from 30 yards out, five days before his 17th birthday, brought The Gunner’s 30-game unbeaten streak to a grinding halt on October 19, 2002.

Rooney collected a lofted pass with an excellent touch before pinging a stunning strike past David Seaman from long rang to mark his first career league goal.

A star was born that day and Premier League introductions don’t get much better.

Vs Man City, 2011

A goal no Man Utd fan will forget and the defining moment of Rooney’s time at Old Trafford. The overhead kick against noisy neighbours Man City will go down as one of the very best goals to be scored in a Premier League derby.

It came at a tumultuous time for Rooney at Man United, with the forward looking like he could make the switch to rivals City just a few months earlier, following a contract dispute with Sir Alex Fergurson. 

For big game brilliance, nothing compares this moment of Wazza wizardry.

Vs Newcastle, 2005

A goal that epitomises Rooney. On the verge of being taken off by Fergie and shortly after arguing with referee Neale Barry, he latched on to a Peter Ramage clearance and rifled in a venomous shot from 25-yards-out.

Speaking about the goal, Rooney said: “I saw one of our subs warming up and I was about to come off. Alan Shearer had put in about three fouls and the ref wasn’t really punishing him enough.

“So, I was arguing with the ref and saying to him: ‘If that if that was me you’d be booking him, so why are you not booking him?’

“Then the header come out and I just hit it as hard as I could. It’s probably one of the cleanest I’ve ever hit a ball.”

Vs Brazil, 2013

When the opposition’s fans begin to applaud your goal, you know you’ve done something special and that’s exactly what happened when Rooney lifted the roof at the Maracana in England’s 2-2 draw with Brazil back in 2013.

Picking the ball up near the left touchline and cutting in, he curled a sumptuous right-footed shot into the top corner. Cool, calm and collected, and arguably his best goal in a Three Lions shirt. 

With Rooney still in fine form at 33, there’s a good chance we’ll see a few more beauties like this before he hangs up his boots for good.

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