Wayne Rooney Manchester United
Wayne Rooney opens the scoring for Manchester United with a nice chip over Feyenoord goalkeeper Brad Jones, November 24, 2016Reuters

The goals flowed, Wayne Rooney's smile on the field came back with interest, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, at last, had a game to remember in his new club's shirt and Manchester United finally picked up a result their performance deserved. Rooney led from the front as Jose Mourinho's side moved to within a point of qualification to the Europa League second round.

After another disappointing result at the weekend, when they gave away a late goal to Arsenal, Manchester United needed a win to lift Old Trafford again, and it came via the man who has inspired the home crowd time and again in the past.

Putting in one of his better performances in recent times, Rooney opened the scoring in the first half, before assisting Juan Mata for the second goal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic then forced an own goal off Brad Jones, with substitute Jesse Lingard adding the gloss to the scoreline.

Now, Manchester United only need a point in their final game of the group stages, away to Zorya Luhansk, to stay in the Europa League.

Rooney gave Manchester United a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute. After starting the move from his own half, Rooney ran onto a pass from Ibrahimovic, before coolly chipping the ball over Jones for his 248th Manchester United goal, one behind record scorer Bobby Charlton, and his 39th European goal, the all-time record.

The captain would then turn provider in the 69th minute, squaring a pass for Mata to apply an easy finish, with Ibrahimovic making an impact, via Jones' legs, before Lingard would finish the game off with a nice curler.

"It's a great feeling to score goals and to score goals for this club," Rooney told BT Sport after the match. "I'm pleased and I'm sure there's plenty more to come. I'm happy with the win first of all, but also with the goal."

Manchester United, with the win, moved to second in Group A with nine points from five matches, one behind the leaders Fenerbahce, who beat Zorya 2-0, courtesy goals from Miroslav Stoch and Simon Kjaer. Feyenoord are third on seven points, with Zorya last, having managed two points from five games.

Watch the highlights HERE