Rooney stars as United edge closer to title


Sunday, February 11, 2007, 03:39:08 HRS


Manchester United's English forward Wayne Rooney(R) pulls away from Charlton Athletic's Alexandre Song during their English Premeirship football match at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Rooney stole the show as goals from South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher sealed Manchester United's 2-0 win against Charlton.


Wayne Rooney stole the show as goals from South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher sealed Manchester United's 2-0 win against Charlton.

Premiership leaders United struggled to claim the convincing victory that many had expected against Alan Pardew's struggling outfit at Old Trafford.

But Rooney's magic proved decisive as the home side survived a nervous 90 minutes to maintain their six-point lead over second-placed Chelsea and edge closer to the title.

Although Charlton arrived marooned in the bottom three, a run of four points from their last two Premiership away games suggested that they would be a tough nut for United to crack.

And although the league leaders made a bright start, Charlton quickly grew in confidence as they began to trouble a United side without in-form regulars such as keeper Edwin van der Sar, Michael Carrick and Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Charlton keeper Scott Carson served notice of the London team's defiance when he produced a top-class save to deny Park a sixth minute opener.

And the on-loan Liverpool stopper kept out another good chance sixty seconds later when he dived low to save Louis Saha's glancing header from Ryan Giggs's corner.

Having survived the initial onslaught, Charlton put United on the back foot and Danish midfielder Dennis Rommedahl should have done better when he shot into the side-netting after being released on the edge of the penalty area by Marcus Bent.

United's stand-in keeper Tomasz Kuszczak was then forced into action when he dived full stretch to tip Darren Ambrose's header behind for a corner.

It was hardly the script that most people were expecting, but United emerged from their slumber on 24 minutes when Park opened the scoring with a header from 12 yards.



Manchester United's French forward Louis Saha(L) takes a shot on the Charlton Athletic goal during their English Premeirship football match at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Wayne Rooney stole the show as goals from South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher sealed Manchester United's 2-0 win against Charlton.


Patrice Evra's run down the left flank proved crucial and the French defender crossed from the by-line for Park to outjump defender Ben Thatcher for the goal.

A piece of Rooney brilliance almost made it 2-0 to United shortly before half-time but, after leaving Thatcher for dead in the six yard box, the striker shot wide of the far post.

Sir Alex Ferguson's team were by no means firing on all cylinders and they lacked the killer touch they needed to put the game beyond Charlton.

Despite their dominance of possession, United struggled to create any real clear-cut chances and they seemed to be missing the skill of Ronaldo.

And with the score only at 1-0, Charlton always remained a danger and sporadic attacks by the visitors ensured that United couldn't take the victory for granted.

That message was spelled out loud and clear when Gary Neville almost headed into his own net on 77 minutes.

The United captain jumped with Bent as Rommedahl's free-kick curled into the penalty area, but the ball glanced off his head and flew inches wide of Kuszczak's left-hand post.

After surviving that near miss, United finally claimed the second goal that ensured they maintained their six-point lead at the top of the table.

Yet again, Rooney produced a moment of magic. The striker had seen his shot saved by Carson, but instead of firing the rebound goalwards, he lofted the ball sideways for Scotland international Fletcher to head into the empty net with eight minutes left on the clock.

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