Wayne Rooney expressed his opinion on whether Alejandro Garnacho’s comparable effort at Goodison Park surpassed his renowned acrobatic bicycle kick against Manchester City.
During Manchester United’s FA Cup match versus Nottingham Forest, Rooney was a pundit on BBC One. Thanks to a contentious late victory from Casemiro that VAR took a long time to verify before awarding the goal, United barely made it to the quarterfinals.
Similar to Virgil Van Dijk’s chalked-off effort in the Carabao Cup final last week, Casemiro’s winner was scrutinised, but this time VAR determined that Rapha Varane, who was offside, had not blocked the shot.
Even though they prevailed, United’s performance was unsatisfactory overall as they failed to respond effectively to their Premier League loss at home to Fulham.
Now, Erik ten Hag’s team travels to the Etihad for what should be their most difficult match of the year against Manchester City. Rooney offered a candid assessment of the derby this coming Saturday in the Match of the Day studio.
“Yeah I scored a few but it’s a very difficult game, simple as that. City are a fantastic team, so it’s a big challenge for Man United coming up at the weekend,” The former United forward explained.
Jermaine Jenas eventually inquired about whether Rooney’s renowned bicycle kick against their local rivals in 2011 came off his shin during the broadcast.
“I’ve always said it’s actually harder to score with your shin, yeah, it’s a harder technique,” Rooney joked.
But honestly I actually don’t know, it does look like it.”
Alejandro Garnacho’s goal against Everton in November has been frequently compared to this one, and the record goal scorer for United acknowledged that the Argentine might have surpassed his derby day effort.
“I think Garnacho’s was better,” Rooney admitted.
Similar to Rooney’s goal, Garnacho’s came from an arching back pass after taking a moment to weigh his choices before scoring. By the end of 2024, Garnacho’s strike will undoubtedly be one of the top candidates for the Puskas Award.
