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Why Wayne Rooney Must Reinvent Himself as a Midfield Playmaker

Wayne Rooney's midfield performance was absolutely crucial to Manchester United's FA Cup win on Saturday evening at Wembley Stadium. When the Red Devils went 1-0 down to an against-the-run-of-play goal from Crystal Palace's Jason Puncheon, Rooney's response was pretty remarkable.

Rooney was an instrumental figure in the cup final.

He picked the ball up from deep and went on a driving run, eventually finding himself on the right-hand edge of the Palace penalty area, from where he dinked a cross over toward Marouane Fellaini. Fellaini used his chest to bring the ball down for Juan Mata, and United were back at the races.