The Red Devils’ all-time leading scorer - currently the manager of Championship side Plymouth - was the main attraction for Saturday’s star-studded charity friendly against Celtic Legends as he featured for a side managed by Bryan Robson and Andy Cole along with the likes of Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick, rewarding an adoring crowd with a superb first-half free-kick to put United in front.
Gary Hooper equalised for Paul Lambert’s visitors shortly past the hour mark, firing home the rebound after captain Stiliyan Petrov had hit the crossbar with an audacious long-range strike.
An entertaining contest to raise money for the Manchester United Foundation went straight to penalties after finishing 1-1, with Rooney also scoring from the spot before Danny Webber was denied by Lukasz Zaluska and Darren O’Dea held his nerve to secure a 5-4 shootout victory for Celtic .
Chances were at a premium early on during an expectedly slow-paced start to the game, both sides trading prolonged spells of passive possession as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Kelvin Wilson both headed off target for Celtic.
Home skipper Carrick began to pull the strings in the United midfield, seeing a long-range effort held by Artur Boruc.
Proceedings livened up after a drinks break midway through the first half, Rooney seeing a low shot deflected wide by Stephen McManus before Berbatov’s flicked header from a well-struck Phil Bardsley volley was cleared off the line.
Berbatov then laid off nicely for Antonio Valencia, who fired well over with the outside of his boot. United left plenty of space in behind for Celtic’s younger legs to counter as they pushed for the opening goal, with a period of end-to-end action ensuing before the deadlock was finally broken.
Up stepped Rooney to provide a reminder of his enduring class as he bent a fantastic free-kick into the top right-hand corner with a helpless Boruc left rooted to the spot.
Celtic made a bright start to the second period in search of the leveller and began camping out in United’s box, but it was the hosts who fashioned the next big opportunity as Berbatov tried a vintage impudent chip that clipped the crossbar on its way over.
Hoops captain Petrov let fly with a dipping effort from distance that crashed back off the crossbar with United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard fully committed, leaving an empty net as an alert Hooper slotted in a straightforward equaliser.
There were changes for both sides to grab a late winner and prevent the lottery of penalties as United replaced Rooney with Scholes, with Chris Eagles and Georgios Samaras among those to go close after Danny Simpson had forced a flying stop from Zaluska.
However, they could not be separated after 90 minutes and a shootout was required, with Nicky Butt, Denis Irwin, Rooney and Darren Fletcher all scoring for United along with Webber’s crucial miss.
Charlie Mulgrew, Jonny Hayes, Stephen McManus and Simon Donnelly had all notched from the spot for Celtic before O’Dea confidently dispatched the winning penalty beyond United’s third goalkeeper of the day, Kevin Pilkington.
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