MANCHESTER // A new year began with a throwback, a moment of history and a sense the future has been delayed.
There was a time when Wayne Rooney used to score glorious goals for Manchester United.
So he did again and a man who has struck in a Uefa Champions League final has mustered few that have been this important.
Not for the club so much as for their beleaguered manager. Louis van Gaal has a first win in nine games, courtesy of his captain.
It was delivered in delightful fashion, a back-heeled flick from Anthony Martial’s cross became Rooney’s 188th goal in the Premier League — giving him outright second place in a list topped by Alan Shearer — and 238th for United in all competitions.
He used to share second place in their all-time scoring stakes from Denis Law. Now it is his alone and Sir Bobby Charlton’s overall record of 249 grows closer.
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It has been a restorative week for Rooney. Dropped at Stoke City last Saturday, he returned to the team against Chelsea on Monday and then to the scoresheet against Swansea on Saturday.
United, after four defeats in five games, finally ended their worst run in 26 years.
Rooney was not the outstanding performer — that mantle rested with either Martial or Ashley Young — but if forwards are judged by the goals they score, he mustered a telling one with considerable style.
It was nearly cancelled out, however. Lukasz Fabianski, the goalkeeper beaten by Rooney, almost exacted extraordinary revenge.
In the last seconds of added time, the Pole ventured forward, met Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner with a forceful header and was inches from equalising. Sigurdsson himself had levelled once, but Swansea’s valiant display was ultimately fruitless.
Van Gaal has argued United have been luckless of late as results have gone against them. They may have been fortunate on this occasion, weathering a late storm and surviving earlier when Andre Ayew hit the post with a header.
Briefly, Old Trafford was how it used to be, notable for late drama and high quality, albeit after a distinctly Van Gaal-esque slow start. Contrary to the last, he was happier with the first half than the second. It was the sort of comment that reinforces a reputation for deliberate dullness.
This has been a season of startling statistics at Old Trafford, virtually all of them unflattering. Among the most remarkable is that United have not scored a first-half goal at home since September.
Dutch, Russian, Championship and Premier League visitors have all reached the break with their clean sheet intact.
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Swansea negotiated the first 45 minutes comparatively comfortably. Their hopes of a fourth consecutive clean sheet were dashed within 120 seconds of the restart when Martial headed in Young’s cross.
The Englishman had been relocated from right-back to the right wing and offered a supply of inviting centres.
Both goals afforded Van Gaal some vindication. He had argued, seemingly strangely, that he did not want competition for places in attack and saw both Martial and Rooney score. He had unveiled his most idiosyncratic system yet, a 3-2-4-1 shape that left United with no width defensively.
Their recent wretched results have not shaken his faith in his own judgment. It amounted to an intriguing experiment, especially as Swansea eschewed orthodoxy themselves, playing with a diamond midfield and no specialist striker. Sigurdsson scored as a false nine, albeit after Van Gaal had reverted to a back four.
Yet United’s issue has never been the formation as much as the philosophy. It is why many hanker for the attacking ethos of old.
Old Trafford used to be a place of fantasy. In a season of six 0-0 draws on their own turf, it has been one of mundane, drab reality.
United’s first shot on target, a distinctly tame effort from Juan Mata, did not arrive until the 33rd minute.
But then Martial made a high-speed sortie to the byline and Rooney provided a-class finish to offer a glimpse of the United of old and suggest thoughts of replacing Van Gaal may have to be put on hold.
For a while, anyway.
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