Rooney’s elbow opens door for Hernandez
The United and England striker faces an anxious wait to discover if referee Mark Clattenburg has included his ugly elbow incident on Wigan’s James McCarthy in his official match report. Television replays showed that Clattenburg missed the eighth-minute incident at the DW Stadium, even though he awarded Wigan a free-kick.
If the 35-year-old official admits he made a mistake in his official match report after studying replays again then Rooney faces an FA charge which could see him serve a suspension at a pivotal moment in United’s season.
With league matches against Chelsea and Liverpool in the next few days, Rooney’s unforgivable use of the elbow could potentially prove more costly than any fine the FA hit him with.
But as one door closes another one opens and if Rooney is hit with a suspension it might just prove a blessing in disguise.
After all, his form lately has hardly set Old Trafford on fire.
Rooney has scored five league goals since his pay rise last October, including United’s third at Wigan.
Roberto Martinez, the Wigan manager, quite rightly insisted Rooney should have been off the pitch when he made it 3-0 six minutes from time.
In contrast, Javier Hernandez now has nine top-flight goals to his name despite featuring in only about two-thirds of United’s league games this season.
The deeply religious Mexican kneels in the centre circle before kick off and prays before every game he starts. Saturday was no different.
Hernandez’s prayers were answered as he did what no Wigan player, despite the home team’s bright start, was able to do and find the net with goals either side of half-time.
Substitute Fabio Da Silva added the gloss to United’s 13th successive win over Wigan three minutes after Rooney had struck.
But it was Mexican Hernandez who caught the eye.
“That is what he is good at and it gives us an advantage inside the penalty box,” said United manager Ferguson before unsuccessfully attempting to play down Rooney’s elbow incident as “next to nothing”.
“Obviously we hope when Javier does get these chances he put them away. We’re very pleased with his performance.”
Whether Rooney is on board the team coach for tomorrow’s match at Chelsea remains to be seen, but the fact Edwin van der Sar heads for Stamford Bridge in excellent form has left United confident of establishing a seven point lead over nearest challengers Arsenal.
Wigan might be averaging less than a goal a game but Van der Sar produced a vintage performance which would have received far greater recognition but for Rooney’s actions.
He might be 40-years-old and on the brink of retirement, but van der Sar’s saves to deny Victor Moses, Ben Watson and Maynor Figueroa were of the highest quality, proof that the former Netherlands international remains one of the best keepers in the Premier League.
On this evidence, Ferguson might be tempted to talk him out of retiring.
“This was a game we needed to win, especially with the next two matches coming up, and luckily we were able to take three points,” said van der Sar, who is surprised at how far tomorrow’s opponents Chelsea have slipped.
“Sometimes you get in a good period, you get your wins going and sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get there,” he added.
“But Chelsea are a team that’s doing okay again.
“We watched their game against Copenhagen last week in our hotel the night before our game against Marseille, so it’s going to be a tough game and we have to make sure we’re mentally and physically ready.”
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