For Van Gaal, Rooney and Manchester United broadly, win a restorative occasion

Manchester United goalscorers, from left, Ander Herrera, Wayne Rooney and Morgan Schneiderlin celebrate the third goal at Goodison Park, on October 18, 2015. Peter Powell / EPA

Manchester United: Schneiderlin 18', Herrera 22', Rooney 62'

Man of the Match: Ander Herrera (Manchester United)

LIVERPOOL // Such is the strange nature of being Wayne Rooney that he seems to deal in both droughts and landmark goals these days. He scored the least important and the most notable of Manchester United's three goals in a 3-0 victory at Everton.

It was his first at Goodison Park, his former home, since 2007 and his first on the road in the Premier League for 11 months. Drought over? “It depends on what the press think. They call it what they like,” Rooney replied spikily.

“Maybe it is the start of many,” manager Louis van Gaal said. There have already been plenty. Rooney is England’s record scorer. Within a year or so, he will be the most prolific in United’s history, too. Now only Alan Shearer has scored more often in the Premier League. Rooney has joined Andrew Cole, a former United forward, on 187. The record-holder finished with 260. While Rooney is still – just – in his twenties, that may prove a task beyond him.

Yet he has a superstar’s capacity to overshadow all around him, even as his performances continue to polarise opinion. Minutes after he latched on to Ander Herrera’s pass to defeat Tim Howard, he had the chance to score a second. This time the American denied him, but Rooney had already garnished a victory others had earned.

Because this was a restorative occasion for United. For those who were restored to the team and for the manager who restored them to winning ways. United’s display in their 3-0 defeat at Arsenal had been sufficiently dismal, Van Gaal had claimed, that even the club chef felt awful. Presumably the catering staff will be feeling better now. The playing staff certainly excelled.

In their different ways, they illustrated what United had been missing at Arsenal. In particular, they had energy in the centre of the pitch and actual defenders in defence, instead of converted midfielders. Van Gaal often eschews orthodoxy, but being conventional worked.

Back came Morgan Schneiderlin and Herrera, who scored, and Marcos Rojo, who created a goal and, along with Phil Jones, helped keep a clean sheet. Schneiderlin’s all-action style means he ought to be the automatic choice in the centre of midfield for the more demanding away games. Van Gaal erred, though he refused to omit it, by omitting the Frenchman at Arsenal. Recalled to the side, he responded with his first United goal after Steven Naismith twice failed to clear and Herrera and Chris Smalling combined.

Rojo’s hamstring injury had meant United lined up at the Emirates Stadium without a specialist left-back. The merits of one were apparent when he swung in the most inviting of crosses and Herrera converted it. He flourished as a No 10 while Rooney was deployed as the main striker. He twice burst behind Everton’s defence, scoring once, providing hints of his younger, more dynamic self. United, meanwhile, looked more purposeful and powerful than they were at Arsenal.

In contrast, Everton were strangely subdued. There was a poignancy to the occasion after the death of Howard Kendall, a stalwart of Everton’s 1970 title-winning team and the manager who orchestrated their triumphs in 1985 and 1987. It would have been a fitting tribute to the 69-year-old if Everton had provided a performance that offered a throwback to their successful days. Sadly for them, they only threatened at the start of the second half, when David de Gea saved well from Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley. It meant the sole Evertonian to mark the occasion with a goal was Rooney, who retains his fondness for his boyhood club, but is in his 12th season at Old Trafford.

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