Manchester United vs Real Sociedad: We Should Have Won 5-0, Says Rooney

Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United could, and should, have won the Champions League tie against Real Sociedad with a larger margin than the eventual 1-0 result.

Rooney, who turns 28 today, induced an own goal from Inigo Martinez in just the second minute, with the Sociedad defender putting into his own net after the ball had come off the inside of the post following a slaloming run and shot from the United forward.

United were the much better side over the 90 minutes at Old Trafford, and should have really put the game to be much before halftime. However, the home side failed to do so, and with it keeping the heart of David Moyes and the supporters beating hard and fast right until the end.

"I thought we played some good football and we should have won the game 3-0, 4-0 or 5-0," Rooney was quoted as saying by Manchester United's official website. "It was an early goal and we could have gone into half-time 2-0 up but we didn't.

"We started the first 10 minutes of the second half a bit slower, and towards the end of the game we really went at them and should have scored again.

"But we're happy we got the win -- that's the most important thing after the game on Saturday. We fully deserved the win and thankfully we came away with the three points."

Rooney was not the only bright spot of the evening, with Shinji Kagawa showing just why he was so highly-rated before joining United courtesy a sparkling performance.

United manager Moyes believes Wednesday night was the Japanese playmaker's best performance since the Scot took over as manager from Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I thought it was Shinji's best game in my time here," Moyes said. "He hadn't really found his feet yet but I saw something from Shinji tonight (Wednesday) which I hadn't seen in other games, so I was really pleased.

"His effort when we didn't have the ball was fantastic. With Shinji, everybody tells me about his ability and what he has got, but tonight is the first time I've really seen Shinji.

"I thought when we put him into the no.10 role, and even after it, he was good with Wayne. His attitude and energy were excellent and I was pleased for him."

With the win, United top the table in Group A with seven points, one ahead of German side Bayer Leverkusen, who surprisingly thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. The Ukrainian side are third with four points from three matches, with Real Sociedad pretty much out of the running to qualify for the knockout rounds after their third defeat in a row.