Wayne Rooney returned to English football in style, picking up an assist while captaining Derby County in a 2-1 defeat of Barnsley on Thursday.
The 34-year-old swept a free kick to the foot of Jack Marriott for the first goal of the match. The Rams moved to 33 points, eight points back of the playoff places.
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Rooney was credited with three tackles and two interceptions to go with his key pass, and was tracking to be the Man of the Match before petering out over time. From The Derby Telegraph:“It was a good victory in the end,” he said. “That’s seven points out of the last nine and for myself personally, I’m delighted to get 90 minutes.
“It was nice. Obviously, I’ve been training for a long time now, so it’s always nice to get back on the pitch. It felt good, but the most important thing for us was the three points.”
Next up for Derby is a visit to Middlesbrough, who holds the same amount of points as his Rams.
Wayne Rooney with a sweet assist on his return to English football 👏 pic.twitter.com/apB77WHyWl
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 2, 2020
