Wayne Rooney was at it again for D.C. United, scoring a long-range stunner of a free kick to help his side to a 1-0 win over Toronto FC as their late-season push for the playoffs took another step in the right direction on Wednesday.
United moved into the playoff places over the weekend with a gritty 1-0 win over FC Dallas and the club was looking to solidify its place in the top six with another win on Wednesday.
Toronto FC, already eliminated from playoff contention, was looking to play the spoiler for United's party, and it took a moment of pure class from Rooney to break the deadlock 18 minutes in.
Zoltan Stieber helped set the stage, winning a free kick for the home side some 30 yards from goal, but it's doubtful that Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono was overly worried.
That is until Rooney stepped up and hit a screaming bender of a free kick.
Bono's best effort wasn't good enough, diving to his left as the ball sailed into the top corner to put United out in front.
The strike not only put his side on top, but marked the 13th time the former Manchester United and Everton star had reached double-digit goals in a season during his storied career.
"It was a bit far out and I was 50/50 whether to shoot and Steve [Birnbaum] was going up as well toward the back post," Rooney said after the game. "I just fancied it.
"I just thought, 'give it a go and see what happens' and thankfully I caught it perfect and it went in. So in the end I made the right decision."
Though the free kick was far out, DCU manager Ben Olsen had no question what Rooney was going to do.
"There wasn't any question in our mind whether he was going to serve that ball," Olsen said.
"It's exciting to have a player like that over the ball in those moments," the D.C. boss continued. "I think today was a day where we needed a moment."
The 1-0 win over Toronto moved United to 47 points, four clear of the seventh placed Montreal Impact and just one back of the Columbus Crew in fifth.
D.C. has two matches left in the season, with a home match against New York City FC next up before closing the season with an away match against the Chicago Fire.
