Wayne Rooney ends goal drought but Man United attack still looking dry

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Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Champions League Group B soccer match between Manchester United and CSKA Moskva at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United scored a goal.

They were shocking scenes to unfold at Old Trafford, where the embattled Wayne Rooney finally headed the ball in the net with a 79th-minute header to beat CSKA Moscow 1-0 in the Champions League, finally breaking the Red Devils' shutout spell.

United hadn't scored in three full games, two of which had been played at home, with one of them going to extra time. Not since Oct. 21. Or in any of the 403 minutes of action that had preceded Tuesday's tally against their Russian opponents. Some six hours and 43 minutes of soccer had passed since the wobbling giants of the world's game had managed to accomplish the very objective of soccer – put the ball in the goal.

Rooney himself hadn't scored since Sept. 26. And both his relief and that of his team was evident after he jumped and nodded in Jesse Lingard's flying volley on Michael Carrick's cross.

Goalkeeper Igor Ikinfeev couldn't quite reach the ball as he sprawled for it.

Wayne Rooney breaks United's 404-minute goalscoring drought (all comps) for a 1-0 lead vs CSKA. #UCL @HeinekenSoccer https://t.co/XTnFmaVEIW

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 3, 2015

United had gone close several times earlier in the game. Rooney flashed a shot wide in the first half. And then, in the 71st minute, he was served up an apparent sitter from a just few yards out, but he couldn't get the ball out from under his feet on two separate attempts. Carrick then hit a volley just off target.

When it finally came, the goal not only put United in first place in Group B with two games to play, making life a little easier on Louis van Gaal and his men, but it also gave Rooney his 237th for the club. That lifted him into second place on the club's all-time scoring chart, tied with Dennis Law.
"I'm a very happy coach because it was very hard to make that goal," van Gaal said. "All the teams that come here to Old Trafford are defending and that's also why we don't score the goals."
But while that's true – it's always been true that hardly any teams travel to Manchester with any intent to attack, which has never stopped the club from getting its goals before – it's nevertheless plain to see that United will struggle to compete seriously until it manages to land an elite striker.

After yet another failure to acquire one in the summer transfer market, the club instead paid very dearly for Anthony Martial. The teenager has been a revelation since his arrival, but he can't shoulder the entire scoring load for a whole season, having cooled off some after a hot start – although he was the last to score before Rooney.

Rooney, now 30, has been hit and miss lately – and more miss than hit – showing the physical signs of having by this point spent half his life in professional soccer. He bailed out his club once again, though. And it will take just 13 more goals for him to become the Red Devils' all-time leading scorer, a distinction he deserves.

But in addition to a liberating goal, the point was driven home once more that United won't truly belong among the elite again until it solves its striker problem.