Rooney, Empat Umpannya Dukung Tekuk Leverkusen 5-0
Rooney Supplied Four Goals to Hit Leverkusen 5-0
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
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Leverkusen (B2B) - Bertandang ke Jerman tanpa diperkuat van Persie, Manchester United berhasil membenamkan tuan rumah Leverkusen 5-0 dalam pertandingan terakhirnya di Grup A Liga Champions, Kamis dinihari WIB.
Bermain tampak imbang jual beli serangan, Manchester United membuktikan lebih tajam ketika Valencia mencetak gol menit 22. Umpan Rooney dari sisi kanan pertahanan Leverkusen melambung melewati Kagawa dan disapu Valencia sebelum sempat memantul di tanah, seperti dilansir Yahoo News.
Gol Valencia itu tercipta bermula dari kegesitan Kagawa dalam perebutan bola di tengah lapangan, berlari melewati pemain belakang Levekusen dan mengoperkan bola kepada Rooney hingga diselesaikan dengan baik oleh Valencia.
Leverkusen yang sejak awal beberapa upayanya gagal, termasuk lewat sundulan keras Spahic yang masih melenceng tipis di atas gawang Manchester United.
Serangan baliknya pada menit 20 hanya menghasilkan peluit offside saat Castro sudah berhadapan dengan kiper United De Gea.
Namun sebaliknya, ketaktisan barisan depan United membuat klub Inggris itu bisa menambah satu gol lagi menit 30. Pelanggaran Reinartz terhadap Kagawa berakhir petaka. Tendangan bebas yang keras dari Rooney masuk ke gawang Leverkusen setelah coba diselamatkan oleh Spahic.
Sundulan Spahic yang mengawal Smalling, mengantar bola masuk ke sudut kiri atas gawang Leverkusen yang membuat kiper Leno tercengang tanpa bisa berbuat banyak.
Keunggulan 2-0 untuk Manchester United bertahan hingga babak pertama berakhir.
Pada babak kedua pun Manchester United mengawali dengan baik, Kagawa yang berusaha menerobos pertahanan Leverkusen dijatuhkan Spahic. Sayang sundulan Kagawa dari umpan tendangan bebas masih bisa dicegat kiper Leno.
Upaya Leverkusen hingga menit 60 tidak juga membuahkan hasil, sejumlah sepak pojok berbahaya dan usaha-usaha lewat Casto, Spahic, dan Reinartz gagal.
Rooney pada 63 justru nyaris mencetak gol ketiga untuk Manchester United kalo saja bola tidak sedikit melebar dari kanan gawang Leverkusen.
Setelah gagal membuat gol, pada menit 66 Rooney yang di depan gawang Leverkusen berhasil mengoper bola lambung melewati kiper Leno dan disambut J. Evans yang menyepaknya masuk ke gawang Leverkusen. Skor berubah 3-0 untuk Setan Merah.
Unggul tiga gol Manchester kian percaya diri dan berhasil menambah dua gol lagi melalui Smalling menit 77 dan Nani yang berhasil mengecoh kiper Leno pada menit 88.
Leverkusen - Manchester United reached the Champions League´s last 16 with a game to spare after thrashing Bayer Leverkusen.
Wayne Rooney, who had a hand in four goals, chipped to the back post for Antonio Valencia´s tap-in for the first before Emir Spahic scored an own goal from the United striker´s free-kick.
Stefan Reinartz´s header hit the post after deflecting off Ryan Giggs before Jonny Evans turned in from a corner.
Chris Smalling then touched in and Nani rounded the keeper for a fifth.
The result is United´s biggest away win in the Champions League and confirmed a miserable night for the German side, who are second in the Bundesliga and lost an unbeaten home record.
Sami Hyypia´s team could not cope with the irrepressible Rooney and the evergreen Giggs, who two days short of his 40th birthday showed his class and composure alongside Phil Jones in the centre of midfield.
United´s two first-half goals obliterated any momentum the hosts had, and although United were without the injured trio of Robin van Persie, Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic, plus the suspended Marouane Fellaini, the visitors were rarely troubled.
The victory meant United boss David Moyes has reached the latter stages of the Champions League at his first attempt with the club and it will give further credence to claims from first-team coach Phil Neville that the players are beginning to believe in his methods.
Last year´s Premier League champions extended their unbeaten run to 11 games, and ahead of a tricky run of domestic fixtures against Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle, they can at least relax about their final Champions League match at home to Shakhtar Donetsk.
A point in that game will mean they top Group A.
Leverkusen are only four points behind leaders Bayern Munich in Germany and looked like they were beginning to pose a threat to the heart of United´s defence early on.
But the game´s course changed after 22 minutes when Evans did superbly to block Stefan Kiessling´s shot before United immediately swept down the opposite end to open the scoring after a swift counter attack.
The ball was fed to Giggs and the Welshman found Rooney, who chipped to the back post where Valencia pounced.
It was a hammer blow to the 2002 Champions League runners-up and the home supporters were stunned further when United extended their lead eight minutes later.
Shinji Kagawa, who also impressed and had a hand in the first goal, was brought down by Reinartz on the left wing, and Rooney´s perfectly dipping free-kick was headed in by Spahic, under pressure from Smalling.
Leverkusen had an isolated chance around the hour mark when Reinartz´s header from a corner hit Giggs and clipped the post.
But after Nani dragged his shot wide and Rooney was also inches off-target after nutmegging Simon Rolfes, Evans touched in after Rooney had drawn a save from Giggs´s corner.
With that, the contest was over but after more poor Leverkusen defending, Rooney lobbed to Smalling for a close-range finish and Nani then raced onto Giggs´s pass to round Bernd Leno and seal a historic victory.
