Seattle Sounders 0-7 Man United

[mufcandy]

Goal scores; Owen, Diouf, Rooney (3), Park, Obertan

Lindegaard had a great first half and Ben Amos had a good 2nd half. Overall a really good performance from the team.

[LUHG]

Manchester United's week-long visit to Seattle came to a satisfactory conclusion in the form of a stylish victory featuring Wayne Rooney's first goals of pre-season and clear evidence that he intends to start the new season in much more devastating fashion than the previous campaign.

Rooney, who replaced Michael Owen at half-time, played as though affronted to have been left out of the starting line-up and by the time he completed a 20-minute hat-trick with United's sixth even the goalkeeper, Terry Boss, decided to applaud. Sigi Schmid, the Seattle coach, was so "embarrassed" by what he had seen he issued a public apology afterwards to the club's supporters.

Rooney, in short, was sensational, far removed from the troubled, out-of-touch individual we saw at this stage a year ago. His first was the culmination of a neat exchange of passes involving Park Ji-Sung and Nani, controlling the ball with one touch then turning his shot into the roof of the net. The second was a neatly angled left-foot shot and, before ensuring another match-ball for the collection, it was also Rooney's clever dummy that left Park Ji-Sung clear for the fifth.

Owen had opened the scoring with a close-range header from Patrice Evra's cross after a quarter of an hour, and another half-time substitute, Mame Biram Diouf, made it 2-0 two minutes before Rooney emphasised the gulf in class between the two sides. Seattle are the Western Conference champions, currently second in the table to LA Galaxy, but they were faced by rampant opponents who made light work of a difficult pitch and could have scored even more.

Sir Alex Ferguson made eight substitutions in total but it never affected his side's fluency. Ashley Young, darting in from the left, was a frequent menace, especially during the first half, and already seems to have struck an understanding with Evra. On the opposite side Nani showed why he finished last season as the player with the most assists in the Premier League. The Portuguese set up two and the clipped pass for Diouf's goal was sublime.

Anders Lindegaard, selected ahead of David De Gea, can also reflect on a satisfactory 45-minute display, demonstrating to the watching Spaniard that he intends to prolong the argument about who starts the season as Ferguson's first-choice goalkeeper.

Lindegaard was replaced by Ben Amos at half-time, with De Gea held back until Saturday's game against Chicago Fire, and the teenager acquitted himself ably apart from a mix-up with Rio Ferdinand late on that led to the defender clattering into an opponent and taking a bad blow to his ankle. United otherwise played with control and measure, using the wings to stretch the game, and once Rooney had been brought on they threatened to score with just about every forward thrust.

Owen may have scored the opening goal but he will also reflect on the moment late in the first half when Ryan Giggs, that doyen of the nutmeg, left him clear on goal with an exquisite pass through the legs of another unsuspecting defender. Owen, eight yards out, struck the ball cleanly but the chance was clawed away by Kasey Keller, the former Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper.

That, however, was a rare lapse on an evening when Gabriel Obertan also reminded us of his desire to re-establish himself, scoring the seventh from just inside the penalty area. This, however, was very much Rooney's night.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Lindegaard (Amos, 45); Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic (Evans, 56), Evra (Fabio, 56); Nani (Obertan, 56), Anderson, Giggs (Park, 45), Young (Carrick, 65); Macheda (Diouf, 45), Owen (Rooney, 45).

Subs not used: De Gea, Jones, Smalling, Welbeck, Cleverley.

Attendance: 67,052