Roo’s left in shade by Danny
THERE was a time when Manchester United fans thought Danny Welbeck might one day outshine Wayne Rooney. It wasn’t meant to be like this. While Rooney toiled through a rare run-out for an understrength United, Welbeck scored a goal which put a massive dent in their top-four hopes.
There were many who were sad to see him leave Old Trafford when Arsenal snapped him up for £16m in September 2014.
Welbeck was seen as the future back then. A promising if frustrating striker who could one day take over from Rooney as United’s main man. It didn’t happen. To be fair, he has hardly pulled up trees at the Emirates either. His killer second goal in this one, after Granit Xhaka’s deflected opener, was only his 10th for Arsenal in almost three years.
Yes, he has struggled with injuries. But he hasn’t made the most of his opportunities either and never established himself as a first-team regular.
Ironic
But for one day at least, United’s loss was Arsenal’s gain. Welbeck had already had first-half shots blocked by former team-mates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling when he finally hit the target in the 57th minute.
He had also drawn ironic cheers from the crowd after a failed overhead kick. But credit where it’s due, this was one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt.
Maybe it proves how far both clubs have fallen that the Gunners are relying on Welbeck to keep their Champions League hopes alive, while United are cursing him.
But he’s still only 26, and, unlike Rooney, you sense there’s plenty more to come from him if he can just stay injury free.
Rooney, now 31 and a shadow of his former self, has scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal than any other player.
But although Petr Cech denied him once in the first half, he never really looked like scoring yesterday.
Rooney only started, in a three-man midfield, because Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba were given the day off to rest and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is injured.
But perhaps his most eye-catching moment came when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain skinned him in the first half. Rooney, done for pace and unable to catch him, missed with a desperate attempt to hack him down which sparked a war of words between the managers.
It was the most dangerous he looked all game.