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Watch: Rooney finishes from midfield, reminiscent of famous Beckham goal

Wayne Rooney emulated David Beckham's midfield goal against Wimbledon with a 50-yard strike against West Ham. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images) Wayne Rooney scored a
Liviu Bird|
Watch: Rooney finishes from midfield, reminiscent of famous Beckham goal
Watch: Rooney finishes from midfield, reminiscent of famous Beckham goal

Wayne Rooney emulated David Beckham's midfield goal against Wimbledon with a 50-yard strike against West Ham. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Wayne Rooney scored a goal that will go down as a Premier League classic just seven minutes into Manchester United's game against West Ham on Saturday. He timed his volley on a bouncing clearance just inside the attacking half and slammed it past Adrián in the goal over 50 yards away.

Rooney scored again in the 33rd minute to give United a 2-0 lead over West Ham. The goals were his 12th and 13th of the season, providing a much-needed boost to a team struggling to keep pace with others challenging for a European slot in the table.

Watch Rooney's sensational first goal of the game here:

One man in the crowd bemused by the goal, as you can see from his reaction in the video, was Manchester United legend David Beckham. Beckham once scored a goal from a similar spot on the field — albeit in a different stadium — for the same club.

In the club's first match of the 1996-97 season, Beckham took a rolling ball just on his side of the halfway line. He looked up to see Neil Sullivan off his line and struck an arcing shot over the goalkeeper's head.

It was one of Beckham's first seasons of steady service for United, and the goal played a big part in him becoming a household name throughout the world.

Beckham's goal in 1996 is always worth another look, so here it is:

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Liviu Bird
LIVIU BIRD

Liviu Bird is a soccer analyst with more than 20 years of experience in the game. He learned how to play in the streets of Romania before moving to the soccer wilderness of Fairbanks, Alaska, escaping to play collegiately as a goalkeeper at Highline Community College and Seattle Pacific University, where he also earned his B.A. in journalism. Bird played semiprofessionally and had tryouts at professional clubs but hung up his gloves in 2012 to focus on writing and coaching at the youth and collegiate levels. He joined Sports Illustrated in March 2013 as a freelance contributor and has also written for NBC Sports, Soccer Wire, The New York Times, American Soccer Now and the Telegraph (UK).

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