Rooney dedicates wonder-goal to Manchester United fans

Manchester United's derby hero Wayne Rooney dedicated his goal to his club's supporters saying, I owe you that, after his stunning winner gave United a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Saturday.

Rooney turned and smashed in an impeccably timed overhead volley which is sure to be remembered for a long time to come. It was a surprise, in a manner of speaking, as Rooney hasn't been in his best form since the succession of ankle injuries he suffered a little less than a year back. He admitted that the goal was long overdue to the United fans.

He said, The Manchester United fans deserve that from me. I haven't had the best of seasons and I know how big this game is in Manchester, so I hope they enjoyed that. Now the aim is to keep scoring and help us get that title back.

Unlike his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney counted out Manchester City from the title race since the loss leaves the Blue half of Manchester eight points adrift of their neighbors, despite playing a game more than United.

It almost certainly rules City out of the title race unless a disaster happens, he said. We are the team to catch. We know how it feels to be top of the league and to get over that finish line. We have the experience with the manager and the players and we know what we have to do. Hopefully within the next six or seven games, we can maintain that gap, or make it bigger.

Disagreeing with City fans, who thought their team were unlucky to go home point-less, Rooney added that United clearly deserved their win, basing his opinion on the chances created by both teams. I don't think they were that unlucky. They played OK. They moved the ball well at times. But they didn't hurt us. They didn't penetrate us. Other than the Silva chance in the first half, they didn't really have a clear chance. We had two or three. Based on that, we deserved to win.