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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRooney scored 253 goals for Manchester United\nbefore leaving in 2017 and has still never scored against them throughout his\ncareer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 34-year-old twice went close from free-kicks\nthough, twice denied by excellent saves from Sergio Romero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rooney, who led his new side in a pre-match\nhuddle, has moved from the rampaging teenage striker who was compared to Pele\nat his 2004 peak to a deep-lying midfielder who started the last time United\nwon this trophy in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Derby he was in a similar midfield role,\nshielded from too much running duties by the youth of Max Bird and Louie Sibley\nalongside him. The duo have a combined age of just 37 and were toddlers when\nRooney was announcing himself on the world stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite a lack of mobility Rooney still remains\nan influence. Not only were his two free-kicks a threat, he was at the heart of\ntheir two other best second-half chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, a sweeping 50-yard crossfield pass found\nJayden Bogle, and his cross was headed wide by Martyn Waghorn. And then an even\nbetter ball from inside his own half released Rams sub Jack Marriott, but\nRomero was once again equal to the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Everyone loves Wayne, all the supporters at\nManchester United appreciate what he did,” said United boss Ole Gunnar\nSolskjaer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“He played well. He shows class and\nsometimes he has too much time on the ball for my liking.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rooney can now turn his attentions towards\nhelping Derby up the Championship table – although a play-off push looks\nambitious at this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nine unbeaten for improving United<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Solskjaer – twice an FA Cup winner as a player –\nhas now stitched together a nine-game unbeaten run to move within sight of a\nplace at Wembley and potentially a place in the Champions League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n January signing Bruno Fernandes was again clearly\na step above, a constant threat at the top of their midfield, while Shaw had an\nexcellent game at full-back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He hit the fortuitous opener after Fernandes had\na shot blocked, volleying down into the ground. The ball appeared to take a\ntouch off the back of Jesse Lingard and loop over the head of Rams keeper Kelle\nRoos and in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another driving run from Shaw then saw him pick\nout Ighalo inside the area and the former Watford man got the better of two\nhalf-hearted challenges from Craig Forsyth and Max Lowe to poke home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shaw had a shot saved by Roos in the second half\nafter fine play from Fernandes, and Ighalo lashed his second into the roof of\nthe net after his initial shot was blocked to seal the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “When you get strikers in you want them to\nbe happy and confident,” Solskjaer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Ighalo has come in here and of course we\nstill have a few injuries and it is great for us to have Odion to call upon. He\nis a different striker for us and scores some good goals, there are not many\nwho could dig that one out for his first.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solskjaer is confident of having captain Harry\nMaguire – who missed this with an ankle injury – fit for Sunday’s Manchester\nderby and says Ighalo could start that game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He has done really well so let’s see how we\nare on Sunday morning,” Solskjaer added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n United’s progress means that all eight remaining\nsides are from the top flight for only the fifth time – after 1894-95, 1895-96,\n1995-96 and 2005-06.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Man of the match – Luke Shaw (Manchester United)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nine in a row – the key stats<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Manchester United have won each of their last\nnine FA Cup meetings with Derby County, a run of victories stretching back to\nMarch 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Derby County have failed to win each of their\nlast 13 home games against top-flight clubs in the FA Cup when the Rams themselves\nwere playing outside of the top tier (D5 L8), including three defeats to Man\nUtd in this spell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manchester United are unbeaten in nine matches\nacross all competitions (W6 D3), keeping seven clean sheets and conceding just\ntwo goals in total in this run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Derby County have lost a competitive game at\nPride Park by more than one goal for the first time since November 2018 when\nthey lost a Championship fixture 0-3 to Aston Villa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo has scored\nin consecutive starts in all competitions for an English club for the first\ntime since December 2015 for Watford, when he scored in four in a row; tonight\nwas also his first double for an English side since December 2015 against\nLiverpool for the Hornets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BBC Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo says he “doesn’t care what anybody says” about his surprise move to Old Trafford after his two goals ensured an all-Premier League FA Cup quarter-final line-up and comfortable win…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[90,89],"class_list":["post-720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-manchester-united","tag-odion-ighalo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/NINTCHDBPICT000568624899-e1583445119431-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C549&ssl=1\")
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