Stoke 1 Manchester United 1: Wayne Rooney breaks Sir Bobby Charlton’s record in spectacular fashion with late free-kick to net 250th Red Devils goal

WAYNE ROONEY made history in spectacular fashion - firing in a late free-kick to break Sir Bobby Charlton's record with his 250th Manchester United goal.

The Red Devils' 16-game unbeaten run looked like it was set to crash to a halt, trailing in injury time to a Juan Mata own goal.

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But Rooney came up trumps by curling in a majestic effort from the left edge of the penalty area to ensure United now have the longest unbeaten run in Europe.

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Stoke took the lead when Mata threw out a leg to steer an Erik Pieters cross past David de Gea.

And things went from bad to worse for Mata later in the first half when he fired over a glorious close-range chance with the goal at his mercy.

But Jose Mourinho introduced Rooney for Mata with 23 minutes left and the Liverpudlian wrote his name into Mancunian folklore.

Rooney had mixed emotions at full-time though, with his side still trailing leaders Chelsea by 11 points.

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FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS

• It was a day to forget for Juan Mata with his deflection leading to the Stoke goal and a glaring miss moments later.
• Peter Crouch was on the front cover of the programme in the hope he could celebrate the day with his 100th Premier League goal.
• With three in his last four league games before today’s match the 35-year-old is certainly enjoying a late renaissance and recently signed a contract extension to the end of next season.

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• It was a full on game as ever here but Mark Hughes was not happy with the number of free-kicks United were getting and told referee Mark Clattenburg as much as they came back out the tunnel at the break.
• To be fair Hughes, good a manager as he is , has got to be the biggest moaner as a manager when it comes to the officials.
• It took until their eighth league game this season for Stoke to record a win wand Hughes was under pressure but they are heading for their fourth top ten finish in a row since he took charge.

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• Rooney’s late equaliser maintained United’s impressive unbeaten record which extends to 17 games.
• Mourinho said before that they would not play to defend the run and certainly went all out to win this but chances were wasted.
• Mourinho threw Wayne Rooney on during the second half and he had a great chance with a close range flick header which went well over.

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• But what a strike to get the equaliser and the Manchester United all time goalscoring record with a bullet of a free kick into the far top corner.
• Still a second successive draw means United will need to look to the Cups for joy now this season with the EFL semi-final second leg up on Thursday at Hull. They lead 2-0 from the first leg.

WHAT THEY SAID

Wayne Rooney: “It means a hell of a lot to me. It’s a great honour and I’m really proud. It’s difficult to be over-pleased because of result.

“It’s two points dropped, but a huge honour in the grand scheme. Something I never expected when I joined the club.

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“It’s been a great journey and there’s a lot more to come.

I don’t really want to stand here speaking about myself to be honest but it’s fitting that the player that got the two record off Sir Bobby is a Manchester United and England one.

Jose Mourinho: "The record is the record. It is the record of the biggest club in England and one of the biggest in the world.

"Before him the record belonged to a legend of English football. Now Wayne becomes a legend of Manchester United."

Sir Bobby Charlton: "I would be lying to say that I'm not disappointed to have lost the record.

"However, I can honestly say that I'm delighted for Wayne. He deserves his place in the history books.

"He is a true great for club and country, and it is fitting that he is now the highest goalscorer for both United and England."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

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DREAM TEAM RATINGS

STOKE: Grant 7, Johnson 7, Shawcross 7, Martins Indi 6, Pieters 6, Whelan 6, Adam 6 (Affelay 63, 6), Shaqiri 6 (Ngoy 73, 6), Allen 6, Arnautovic 6 (Imbula 88, 6), Crouch 7.

Subs not used: Given, Bardsley, Muniesa, Krkic.

Goals: Mata (og) 19

MAN UTD: de Gea 6, Valencia 7, Jones 7, Smalling 6, Blind 6, Fellaini 7 Rashford (56, 6), Ander Herrera 7, Pogba 7, Mata 6 Rooney (67, 7), Ibrahimovic 6, Mkhitaryan 6 (Lingard 73, 7).

Subs not used: Romero, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Darmian.

Goals: Rooney (90+4)

STAR MAN: Ander Herrera (Manchester United)