Half-Time Report: Wayne Rooney double puts Manchester United ahead

Two goals from Wayne Rooney have completed a first-half turnaround at Old Trafford, with Manchester United leading 2-1 against Aston Villa.

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Rooney's second came from the penalty spot just before the break, after the away side had taken an early lead.

It was Villa who started brighter, passing the ball around confidently as United failed to find any fluency of their own early on.

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The visitors' pressure told after just 12 minutes when Gabriel Agbonlahor broke free and was brought down by Rafael just outside the box. The full-back was shown a yellow card but his punishment was to get much worse as Ashley Westwood curled the free kick into the top corner, giving David de Gea no chance.

United responded very quickly, with Shinji Kagawa finding space on the right and whipping the ball in to Rooney who headed past Brad Guzan seven minutes later.

The hosts looked like a different team after that, with Rooney seeing a couple of efforts blocked before Juan Mata and Kagawa linked well to create a good chance with five minutes to go.

The same players linked inside the box again four minutes later and this time Mata was fouled by Leandro Bacuna. Rooney stepped up and made no mistake from the penalty spot to give United the lead on the stroke of half time.