Wayne Rooney surpassed Ruud van Nistelrooy as Manchester United’s all-time top scorer in European competitions on Thursday, leading the English club to a 4-0 win over Feyenoord and keeping it alive in the Europa League.
After scoring his 39th European goal in the 35th minute, Rooney also unselfishly set up Juan Mata in the 69th, leaving United on its way to an easy victory and in a good position to advance to the knockout rounds.
United got a third on the board with an own-goal by Feyenoord goalkeeper Brad Jones after an angled shot by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 75th.
Substitute Jesse Lingard’s form shot added a fourth in injury time.
United reached nine points and is only one behind Group A leader Fenerbahce, which defeated Ukraine’s Zorya Luhansk 2-0 in Turkey.
An away win against already eliminated Zorya in the final round in December will be enough to send United through and help relieve some of the pressure on manager Jose Mourinho.
Rooney’s third goal of the season, and his first at Old Trafford since May, came after a well-timed pass by Ibrahimovic. The England forward calmly flicked the ball over Jones after receiving the ball behind the Feyenoord defenders inside the area.
It was Rooney’s 248th goal for United, leaving him just one short of Bobby Charlton’s all-time record with the club.
Rooney’s chances of leveling the record ended when he was substituted in the 82nd.
A good night’s work for Rooney came more than a week after he was forced to apologize for late-night revelry while on England duty, when he was pictured looking bleary-eyed at a wedding reception at the team hotel.
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HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA 3, INTER MILAN 2
Inter Milan couldn’t hold on to a two-goal lead against Israeli club Hapoel Beer-Sheva on Thursday, being eliminated from the Europa League with one round still to be played.
Inter conceded three goals in the second half, including one in the third and final minute of stoppage time, as it lost for the fourth time in five games in Group K.
Sparta Prague, which defeated Southampton 1-0 at home, secured first place in the group with 12 points, five more than both Hapoel and Southampton, which meet in England in the final round. Inter stayed on three points.
The Italian club played with 10 men from the 69th minute as goalkeeper Samir Handanovic was sent off for a foul that prompted Hapoel’s equalizer from a penalty kick.
Mauro Icardi scored his sixth goal in as many games for Inter in the 13th and Marcelo Brozovic added to the lead in the 25th. But the hosts got one back through Lucio Maranhao in the 58th and Anthony Nwakaeme converted the penalty after Handanovic’s red card.
Striker Ben Sahar netted the late winner with a shot from inside the area after a fast breakaway that caught Inter’s defense off guard.
The Israeli champions had beaten Inter 2-0 at San Siro in the teams’ group opener.
Inter also lost at Southampton and at Sparta, and its only win was a 1-0 result at home against Southampton.
It was the first European game for new Inter coach Stefano Pioli, whose team was coming off a 2-2 draw against rival AC Milan in the Italian league at the weekend.
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ELSEWHERE
Villarreal missed a chance to reach the top of a tightly fought Group L after conceding an 87th-minute equalizer against FC Zurich, leaving the group lead with Turkish side Osmanlispor, which lost 2-1 at Steaua Bucharest.
Fiorentina lost 3-2 to Greek side PAOK at home but remained with a three-point lead in Group J, while Zenit St. Petersburg maintained a perfect record after a 2-0 home win against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Group D. Zenit has a 10-point lead at the top.
Schalke defeated Nice 2-0 to also stay comfortably ahead in Group I, and Group H leader Shakhtar Donetsk routed Konyaspor 4-0.
Ajax stayed ahead in Group G with a 2-0 win over last-placed Panathinaikos.
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