Fergie: Rooney Usually Keeps His Pens Down

As Wayne Rooney prepared to take his penalty last night, there was a sinking feeling he was going to miss. Despite already scoring against Rangers from the penalty spot since his revelations he wanted to leave Manchester United for a club with more ambition, there was no doubt this game was a lot bigger.

Against Liverpool last season he saw Pepe Reina palm away his effort, but fortunately, he was able to slot in the rebound.

When he skied it over, the sinking feeling got worse. At just 1-0 down, there’s no doubt the penalty miss was going to galvanise them, but fortunately, our defence were able to deal with any threat.

“It was an unusual penalty, normally Wayne always keeps them down, I’ve never known him to hit one over,” Ferguson said. “That gave Arsenal a bit of impetus but we defended very well, the back four were fantastic tonight, absolutely magnificent.”

I still haven’t seen replays on the penalty although have heard some people complaining about the decision to award it. Looked nailed on from the stands, but then, it usually does!

With hindsight, knowing the game is wrapped up, it’s maybe a good thing Rooney missed. If he had scored and we won 2-0 or even went on to concede, all the papers would be full of how we were gifted a win. Instead, the papers get to mock Arsene Wenger for blaming the pitch for being outfought and outmaneuvered by Sir Alex yet again.

But that’s me being kind. After the attention Rooney has brought on himself this year, he really can’t afford to not even hit the target from the penalty spot. Sort it out.