It was all rather solemn -- even a little sad -- seeing Wayne Rooney flop to the ground and apologetically stumble over the line, carrying the ball with him and ending the longest goal drought of his career.
Finally putting an end to a 1,000-minute wait for a league goal, there was a brief smile upon scoring in the 3-0 win against Sunderland in September and a nod to the boy who set him up -- Anthony Martial, the teenage superstar-in-the-making that Rooney once was.
Undoubtedly, Rooney would have rather beaten three defenders and then whacked in a thunderbolt, but such moments of wonder are rare now.