Wayne Rooney reveals Manchester United’s infamous 6-1 loss to City fell on wife Coleen’s birthday
Wayne Rooney reveals Manchester United’s infamous 6-1 defeat by rivals City in 2011 ruined birthday party for his wife Coleen – with opponents Gareth Barry and Joe Hart invited to ‘uncomfortable’ celebrations
- Wayne Rooney feels United’s 6-1 loss to City ‘changed the balance of power’
- He claims it is the first time he thought ‘these could challenge and have a go.’
- The former England captain also revealed how the loss fell on his wife’s birthday
- It led to an ‘uncomfortable’ evening, as Rooney celebrated with two City players
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has revealed spending an ‘uncomfortable’ night celebrating his wife Coleen’s birthday alongside two Man City players, just hours after losing the Manchester derby 6-1.
The game was something of a changing of the guard moment for Premier League football, as City went on to snatch the title from their local rivals in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season.
Reflecting on his form against the Noisy Neighbours in his time at United, Rooney wrote in the Sunday Times: ‘I scored 11 goals for United against City, the most famous being my overhead kick in a 2-1 win in February 2011.
‘But it was the next derby, early in the 2011-12 season, where you felt the balance of power beginning to change.’
He went on to reflect on how devastating losing the derby was. He wrote: ‘City won 6-1 at Old Trafford on a day when we had Jonny Evans sent off, they took all their chances, and everything went for them — but you could see how good they were becoming.
‘They had superb players, such as Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Touré, Sergio Agüero, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli, who could be immature on the pitch but was fantastic that day. It was the game when you really thought: “These could challenge and have a go.”’
Wayne Rooney feels United’s 6-1 derby loss ‘changed the power balance’ in the Premier League
He claims it is the first time he thought the Cityzens ‘could challenge and have a go’
The loss hit Rooney especially given the plans he had arranged for later in the day, as he explained: ‘It was horrible. It was actually my wife’s birthday and we had booked Wing’s restaurant in central Manchester for a party that night. Neither of us expected getting beaten 6-1.
‘Gareth Barry and Joe Hart were invited and the last thing I wanted to do was go out or do anything — especially not hang around with two City players, even if both are mates.
‘In hindsight, maybe I should have cancelled but lots of people were coming and it felt difficult to do that.
‘So I went. And it was uncomfortable. Not the best night.’
The striker also recalled his spectacular overhead kick against City in his previous derby
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