Club Brugge vs. Manchester United: Winners and Losers from Champions League Game
Wayne Rooney ended a scoring drought with three goals to lead Manchester United to a 4-0 victory at Club Brugge on Wednesday night in the second leg of the two teams' UEFA Champions League playoff.
With the result, United finished off a 7-1 aggregate win and qualified for the competition's group stage for the first time since 2013-14.
Rooney, who hadn't scored for United in more than 800 minutes of game action, put his side ahead in the 20th minute following good buildup play by Memphis Depay. The captain added goals in the 49th and 57th minutes as United broke the match open in the second half. Ander Herrera added the fourth in the 63rd minute to finish off the rout.
Here, B/R selects winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Wayne Rooney
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What drought?
When Wayne Rooney scored Manchester United's first goal of the match in the 20th minute, the strike ended a barren spell of 878 minutes for the player (h/t Opta). It was the captain's 231st goal for United but his first since April, and the relief on Rooney's face was obvious.
With the weight lifted, Rooney went on to record a fine hat-trick that made him, almost unbelievably, United's top scorer on the young season. So much for a player who was supposedly finished.
"To be honest, if I didn't have a strong character that (the criticism) might have affected me," Rooney told BT Sport (h/t BBC Sport). "I wasn't worried. It is early days and when the chances came I took them."
For Rooney, the challenge now will be to channel this scoring performance into the Premier League. Competition is fierce at the top of the table, with rivals Manchester City storming out of the gates (and reportedly closing in on the signing of Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg).
Currently just two points off the top spot, United will need as many goals as possible from their captain in order to stay in the race.
Loser: Javier Hernandez
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While Wayne Rooney put his scoring record back on track, another Manchester United striker failed to impress in what could have been a statement-making match.
With the result no longer in doubt, United won a penalty in the 81st minute. The visitors led 4-0 at the time, so Rooney gave Javier Hernandez a chance to take the spot kick and score an easy goal.
That was the idea, at least. But Hernandez slipped as he took his shot and rolled the ball past the post. Instead of kick-starting his scoring account for the season, Chicharito had missed in embarrassing fashion.
To make matters worse, the Mexico international blazed over the bar from six yards in the 90th minute after Ashley Young picked out a great cross from the right. If anything, the second miss was worse than the first.
Hernandez spent last season on loan with Real Madrid, where he failed to make the impression necessary to secure a permanent move. If he is to have a future with the club, Chicharito must show manager Louis van Gaal something positive.
This performance won't have done the trick, as Van Gaal's face showed so clearly after the missed penalty.
Winner: Memphis Depay
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Wayne Rooney will take the plaudits following his hat-trick, but Memphis Depay deserves praise as well for an excellent assist on the opening goal.
Daley Blind started the move with an intelligent pass to Memphis on the left. The winger then cut inside and shaped to shoot, very much like he did for his first goal last week at Old Trafford. Instead of shooting, however, Memphis laid off a clever pass to Rooney, who had drifted into a pocket of space. Rooney took care of the rest with a good finish, but this goal was all about United's dynamic Dutchman.
After watching Memphis score two brilliant goals in the first leg last week, Club Brugge had to respect his shooting ability. That was clear when Oscar Duarte ran out to defend Memphis at the last moment, leaving Rooney unmarked inside the box.
For Brugge—as it will be for many a defense this season—defending Memphis was difficult because he is so dangerous as both a creator and finisher.
Loser, Then Winner: Ander Herrera
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Midfielder Ander Herrera struggled throughout the first half. The Spaniard looked off the pace for much of the 45 minutes, with a yellow card representing his most notable contribution before halftime.
The problem, as Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News noted on Twitter, was with manager Louis van Gaal's positioning of Herrera: "(The) position he did so well in last season isn't in Van Gaal's system any more. Either has to play deep or as the 10."
Bastian Schweinsteiger's introduction at halftime moved Herrera into the No. 10 role in place of the departed Adnan Januzaj. The Spaniard quickly assisted a goal and then scored one of his own on a breakaway after latching on to a pass from Schweinsteiger.
Herrera's night ended immediately after the goal when Van Gaal subbed him out of the match. Over the course of 64 minutes, he had gone from frustration to elation.
Loser: Brugge's Second-Half Effort
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The four-goal margin of victory generally reflected Manchester United's dominance of the match, but things might have been so different if Brugge had scored shortly before halftime during their best spell of the night.
Abdoulay Diaby had a glorious chance to pull his side level in the 43rd minute after racing on to a pass behind United's defense, but he took too long to shoot and the visitors eventually cleared. After the break, Brugge promptly fell apart as United ran rampant.
The hosts simply had no answer as United's passers picked out runner after runner down the middle. Wayne Rooney netted a pair of relatively simple strikes, and Ander Herrera beat Sinan Bolat one-on-one. Brugge's players looked thoroughly beaten, with heads hanging low and grim faces littering the pitch.
Until halftime, the match—if not necessarily the tie—was somewhat tight. Credit United for a strong second half, but Brugge fell apart after halftime.
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