Wayne Rooney ended his goal drought with a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Club Brugge 4-0 in the second leg of their Champions League playoff decider this evening.
Victory on the night for Louis van Gaal's men saw them record a 7-1 overall win against the Belgian club, securing their progression into the group stages of the European showpiece.
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
The Reds 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.
Looking to put the game to bed, United started the second half encouragingly and they grabbed another goal as Ander Herrera linked up memorably with Rooney to allow the striker to seal his second goal of the game.
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Rooney's night was made perfect in the 57th minute when he bundled his way through the Brugge defence to apply a neat finish and earn himself a standout hat-trick within the hour.
The forward's tally might have soon moved to four, but he saw a chipped effort cleared for a corner as United continued to carve the hosts open at will.
Brugge's defence was made to pay not too long after Rooney's miss, this time as Bastian Schweinsteiger split the defence in two to find Herrera, who slotted comfortably past Bolat to make it 4-0.
Things grew more agonising for Brugge in the closing stages when United were awarded a penalty, although Javier Hernandez could not make the most of the chance as he skewed his spot kick wide.
Christopher Dodd
