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Manchester United travelled to Anfield to take on their hated rivals Liverpool in a Premier League clash last weekend and came away with a number of records apart from the three points that they sealed courtesy of a late strike from their captain Wayne Rooney.
The Red Devils’ skipper had been much-maligned due to his alarming dip in form in the ongoing season as well as the last campaign, when he failed to score in two successive league games across the entire season. However, he is now on a three-match goalscoring run and will be looking to extend it to four games when the Red Devils take on Southampton this weekend. If he manages to score, it would be the first time since March 2012 that he will have scored in four successive games.
It was Rooney’s second ever goal at Anfield.
Rooney’s goal was 176th of his Manchester United career and it took him past Arsenal legend Thierry Henry for being the player with the most goals for one club in the history of the Premier League. Henry played his entire Premier League career at Arsenal before moving to Barcelona.
Manchester United have done the double over Liverpool this season. They won 3-1 at Old Trafford prior to their 2 – 1 triumph at Anfield. Crucially, they had taken four shots on target during the course of the two games and all of them hit the back of the net. As if to highlight the fact, Louis van Gaal’s men are the second worst team in the Premier League when it comes to directing shots on target. Meanwhile, Liverpool have the worst scoring percentage of all the Premier League teams this season.
Rooney’s strike was also the 100th Manchester United goal against Liverpool at Anfield and, quite aptly, it sealed the three points for the 20-time English champions.
The former Evertonian is now just one goal away from Newcastle legend Alan Shearer’s record of most away Premier League goals record.
Simon Mignolet signed a new long-term contract extension with Liverpool on Monday. They have also been linked to Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland, who has been in standout form this season and it has been highlighted by the fact that he has made 81 saves this league campaign thus far – more than any other keeper.
Wasi is a keen fan with loads of knowledge about the game. He has written for some of the world’s leading soccer websites and is a major Barcelona and Pune City FC fan. He loves the Champions League and watches 200+ EPL games & La Liga games per season.