Rooney sparkles as United crush Leverkusen 5-0 to advance
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) - Wayne Rooney set up three goals as Manchester United cruised to a 5-0 victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, booking their Champions League knockout stage spot and snapping the Germans' eight-game home winning streak in the competition. Rooney tormented Leverkusen with pinpoint passes throughout the game and found Antonio Valencia with a deep cross for an easy tap-in before floating a free kick into the box which defender Emir Spahic headed into his own net in the 30th minute. Jonny Evans added another after taking advantage of some confusion in the box and Chris Smalling scored in the 77th before a cute Nani finish late on made sure of English clubs' fifth win in seven matches against German teams this season. The win lifted United, who were playing without injured Nemanja Vidic and Robin van Persie, to 11 points in Group A, three ahead of Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, with Leverkusen in third on seven. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann)
