Rooney’s on a revenge mission to claim title and silence Arsenal fans
WAYNE ROONEY will be gunning for revenge at Old Trafford tomorrow – to end seven years of hurt.
The England striker has called on his Manchester United team-mates to finish the job and earn the single point required against arch-rivals Arsenal to clinch an 11th Premier League title.
To win the title in front of the Gunners would be the perfect scenario for United, who have never been allowed to forget Sylvain Wiltord’s famous winning goal, which clinched the 2002 title at the Theatre of Dreams.
Indeed, in an added dimension, the Gunners themselves are seeking revenge over United for their Champions League semi-final defeat a fortnight ago.
But Rooney believes the added incentive of winning yet another Premier League title while also silencing gloating Arsenal fans, will tip the balance in his side’s favour. “One point will win the title for us, hopefully that can come on Saturday,” he said. “It would be brilliant to do it in front of our own fans and brilliant to win it against Arsenal, who are a great footballing team. When they come to Old Trafford you always hear them singing about winning the title at Old Trafford, so it would be nice to win against them. That would be special.”
Michael Carrick’s late strike to earn United a 2-1 victory at Wigan on Wednesday night, means a solitary point tomorrow would see them clinch a record-equalling 18th crown and become only the fifth side in history to win a hat-trick of titles.
It would also end a bizarre sequence which has seen boss Sir Alex Ferguson clinch just one of 10 titles in 1999 on home soil.
Rooney added: “We want to win it in front of our own fans, I think the manager’s said we’ve only done that once in 17 years. And to win it three years on the run would be amazing.”