On This Day – 28th September
Wayne Rooney made an impressive start to his career at Old Trafford, scoring a hat-trick on his debut on this day back in 2004.
The 18 year old joined from Everton for £30 million and made an immediate impact in a 6-2 win over Turkish side Fenerbahce.
Rooney could, and perhaps should have scored early on, but blazed over the crossbar after taking the ball past Recber Rustu in the Fenerbahce goal.
He soon made up for it though, chasing after a through ball from his strike partner Ruud van Nistelrooy and firing home from the edge of the penalty area.
His second was a splendid effort from distance. He picked up a square pass from Ryan Giggs 30 yards from goal, letting the ball roll across in front of him before side-stepping an on-rushing defender.
With one touch to nudge the ball forward, Rooney then thumped a low shot hard into the bottom corner of the net from a full 25 yard out.
The 18 year old was playing the game of his life and the United fans were in awe of their latest recruit. He wasn’t shy to shoot from distance, closed down opponents and was linking up his new team mates.
He completed his hat-trick with a free-kick outside the box. After a shot run up, Rooney got the ball up and over the Fenerbahce wall and past the despairing dive of Rustu. It was the perfect goal to finish off a memorable debut for the new Manchester United man.
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