Wayne Rooney has ended his troublesome goal drought to give Manchester United a 1-0 half-time lead over hosts Club Brugge in the second leg of their Champions League playoff decider this evening.
After a tense opening gambit the Belgian side were almost presented with an opportunity when Tom De Sutter found space inside the box, but his shot was blocked on its way to goal by Luke Shaw.
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The home side continued to press high and they got in behind United once more when Matteo Darmian allowed Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo to run free, leaving Chris Smalling and Daley Blind to come to the rescue in defence.
United took the lead with their first real chance of the game as Memphis Depay slipped an impressive through-ball into the path of Rooney, who finished adroitly to lob Sinan Bolat.
Louis van Gaal's charges gradually grew into the attacking side of the game, as Rooney produced an almost-telling ball into Depay, who was eventually thwarted by an onrushing Bolat.
The visitors should have wrapped up proceedings just before the break when Depay broke free, but he curled his one-on-one effort straight at the keeper despite having Rooney free in space to his right.
United were almost made to pay for the miss before the close of the first 45 minutes, but Sergio Romero produced some smart goalkeeping to keep out De Sutter.
Christopher Dodd
