THE INDEPENDENT - ONCE A SUPERSTAR ALWAYS A SUPERSTAR
Everton must have been wishing that bad weather had stopped play at Goodison Park, just as it did at Old Trafford cricket ground. First it rained on the blue half of Mersyside on the opening day of the Premiership season, then it poured as Manchester United made a slick start to the season at Everton's expense by beating them 2-0.
David Moyes's side were supposed to give Wayne Rooney a hard time on his latest return to his spiritual home but even though their fans provided a rowdy welcome, the team did not. Quite the opposite. The England forward had a hand in United's opening goal just before half-time, contributing to the move that fnished with Ruud van Nistelrooy firing home John O'Shea's cross. Then, within a minute of the restart, he accepted a gift from Joseph Yobo, racing on to the Everton defender's lazy, square pass to wrap up the points with United's second.
Superstars do not need that kind of help, nor do they refuse it when offered, even if Rooney has in the past stressed to Everton fans that as far as he is concerned, once a blue always a blue is the rule.
It was unfortunate for him that it was Everton who were the victims of United's determination to make a better start than they have in the past two seasons. "Last season we had a fragmented start to the season because players were missing and we were always chasing Chelsea. Now we have got a good start and I hope we can take advantage of that," Sir Alex Ferguson, United's manager, said after seeing his side steal a march on the champions Chelsea and Arsenal, who both play today.
THE OBSERVER - ROONEY WRAPS UP RED STROLL
Two Champions League contenders, two vastly different starts to the season. For Everton, this was the week's second defeat in another tough game. For Manchester United, it was another stroll.
David Moyes insists he wants Everton to move forward this season, despite the high standards set last time, so he will be annoyed that this result sent out a conflicting message. Not only did Everton lose a game they managed to win last season, allowing Wayne Rooney his first goal against his old club with some comedy defending in the process, they completely failed to kick United off the park.
Away points won't come much easier this season, a fact tacitly acknowledged by United supporters who took up a chant of 'Top of the league' when Rooney's goal made victory certain. You wouldn't have heard such a thing a couple of years ago, and the suspicion is that United fans recognise the visit to the summit permitted by an early kick-off may be a brief one.
'Two-nil, in your Superbowl,' chanted the wits at the United end, clearly getting their anti-Malcolm Glazer retaliation in first. Everton fans fell silent long before the end, in powerful contrast to the bedlam they created when United were last here. 'We had to dig in, fortunately our goals came at the right times,' Ferguson said. 'The second one killed it and I don't think many of the other top sides will come here and get a result like this.'
MAN OF THE MATCH
Wayne Rooney Not an outstanding performance by his towering standards, but he still managed to make the first goal, score the second and almost claimed a third before the end. All while being booed throughout and having to button his lip for fear of cameras catching an oath or two. Simply played football, and no one did it better.
THE SUNDAY TIMES - RED-HOT ROONEY RULES THE ROOST
First blood to United and last laugh to Wayne Rooney. Sir Alex Ferguson and his team took advantage of the early start to get their season off to a flyer yesterday when Rooney returned to his alma mater with a goal to stifle the abuse from his erstwhile fans. United were not exactly chuffed when Chelsea’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon, said the league would be a one-horse race again this time, and Roy Keane and company were quick out of the traps to get their noses in front. They were not at full strength, with Cristiano Ronaldo (ankle) and Ryan Giggs (chest infection) notable absentees, but they were good value for the points.
Edwin van der Sar was justifiably pleased with his start, but nobody was happier than Rooney, who scored the second goal that effectively ended Everton’s hopes of mounting a comeback. Watched by the England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, the striker had an excellent game, and was the man of the match by a distance. When the sponsors opted for an alternative, their choice was rightly derided with choruses of "Marcus Bent? You’re having a laugh." United headed back across the M62 well satisfied, Everton were anything but.
Van der Sar did not have a lot to do, but when he was called upon he was composure personified, by comparison with the cats on a hot tin roof that were Tim Howard and Roy Carroll. Park Ji-Sung spurned a couple of chances, but showed enough to indicate that he will be a useful alternative to the established wingers. Of their own newcomers, Evertonians were most impressed with Phil Neville, who won and passed the ball to metronomical effect against his old teammates. Simon Davies was substituted in the second half, but the width he supplies is a welcome addition to Moyes’ armoury. The outcome might have been very different had one of his crosses, midway through the first half, been converted by Tim Cahill at the far post. Cahill, presented with Everton’s player of the year trophy for last season before kick-off, is unlikely to retain it if he continues to head straight at the goalkeeper from two yards.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH - ROONEY HAS FERGIE PURRING
No one at Old Trafford will be talking about winning the Premiership for at least another 30 games. But if United manager Sir Alex Ferguson learned anything from Arsenal and Chelsea's near-perfect title campaigns over the past two seasons, it is that the old adage about the championship being a marathon is as outdated as a team full of Englishmen.
Not that he can really assess the title potential of his side until they meet stronger opposition, which seems a strange thing to say about an Everton side who finished fourth last season, only one place behind United, but who were, in reality, simply top of the Premiership also-rans. This is also the most one-sided match-up in the top flight, Everton's 1-0 win here last season providing their only success in the last 21 meetings of these teams.
There seemed little doubt that United would claim win number 16 in that sequence once Ruud van Nistelrooy swept in John O'Shea's left-wing cross in the manner of the old Ruud - that is, not the one incapable of hitting a barn door for most of last season. And there was absolutely none when, 28 seconds into the second half, Everton defender Joseph Yobo rolled the ball across the box into the path of Wayne Rooney, of all people.
Everton fans, one of whom threw a mobile phone at Rooney on his first return here last season, had suggested relations were improving by restricting themselves to the odd ironic cheer when he smashed a free-kick into the defensive wall and only one chant of "You fat bastard". But Yobo's back-pass, providing an unmissable chance, was taking the entente cordiale too far.