Fightback could turn title race, says Wayne Rooney
Posted on February 7, 2012, Tuesday
COSTLY MISTAKE: Manchester United’s defender Jonny Evans scores an own goal during their match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London. — AFP photo
Wayne Rooney
LONDON: Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United’s three-goal comeback against Chelsea could prove decisive in the Premier League title race, even though the champions lost ground on leaders Manchester City after a dramatic 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side now sit two points adrift of City, who beat Fulham 24 hours before the six-goal thriller in west London on Sunday.
A Jonny Evans own goal and strikes from Juan Mata and David Luiz left United three goals down by the 50th minute.
But they showed true grit to fight their way back onto level terms through two controversial penalties, both converted by Rooney, and a Javier Hernandez equaliser in the 84th minute.
And United striker Rooney is confident his team’s sensational second half recovery will not have gone unnoticed by Roberto Mancini’s City squad.
“Of course it’s two points lost, we understand that, but after being 3-0 down all the City players at home won’t enjoy watching us, the way we fought back and the spirit of the team,” Rooney said.
“They know it will be a long fight to the end and we’ll be there to the end.
“From the start we controlled the game and we were unfortunate to go in 1-0 down, then in the second half they hit us with two goals in five minutes and we knew we had to dig in.
“We knew if we got one goal there was time to get something out of the game. We fought well and fought hard and that point could win us the league.
“A lot of teams would find it easy to put their heads down and accept defeat but we carried on, worked hard and thankfully got something out of the game.”
Referee Howard Webb found himself at the centre of attention because of the two penalties he awarded United, and the two he denied Ferguson’s side in the first half.
Ferguson inevitably felt aggrieved by the two his side didn’t get and he said: “We had two penalties in the second half which I think were justified, I think that we could have had four penalties and a winning game.
