Wayne Rooney pulls a Beckham, scores from halfway line

Hats off to Mr. Wayne Rooney. He may not always look worthy of the world class bracket in which he's often placed, but he's produced some magic here.

Just ten minutes into Manchester United's game away at West Ham, he's produced one of the goals of the season, chipping the Hammers' goalkeeper Adrián from just past the halfway line:

Fittingly, David Beckham is watching today's game from the stands, with Rooney's goal evoking memories of his halfway line spectacular for United against Wimbledon all the way back in 1996. Rooney's goal isn't quite as impressive, but with United in such a sticky situation at present, it's certainly no less important.

Unfortunately United are still looking a little shaky at the moment, with the Hammers having called David De Gea into action a few times in the opening 20 minutes. Let's hope the gloss isn't taken off this moment of genius by yet more dropped points.