The Guardian: Wembley’s corner-flags remained unmolested as Wayne Rooney capped a quietly effective game with two simple yet well-taken second-half goals, the fiery striker marking his return to London by staying on the pitch longer than those around him for a change.

Wayne Rooney has had two red cards in his competitive career for Manchester United, one for sarcastically applauding the referee and another for throwing the ball back for a freekick to be retaken. Including the sending off in the World Cup, Rooney has average of 1 red card for every 101 matches he’s played in professionally.

England team mate Steven Gerrard averages a red card once every 95 matches. Peter Crouch once every 86 matches. Or there’s David Beckham once every 73 matches, after being sent off an incredible 8 times in his career and being the first Englishman to be sent off twice whilst representing his country.

But no, it’s Wayne Rooney who struggles to stay on the pitch for 90 minutes.

Some would call Rooney’s performance “quietly effective”, whilst the vast majority would describe his Man of the Match performance as “running the show”. Scoring half the goals and playing a vital role in a third, there was nothing quiet about the effect Rooney had on England yesterday. It was blatent, but only the ABU media could have missed that.