Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Wayne Rooney ended his long goal-drought with a hat-trick as Manchester United qualified for the Champions League with a 7-1 aggregate win over Club Brugge.

The England captain had not scored since a Premier League game against Aston Villa in April, a run of 10 matches and 878 minutes without finding the net.

Rooney netted his first goal of the season after 20 minutes with a neat finish, running on to a clever through ball from Memphis Depay.

He doubled the lead four minutes after halftime following a flowing move and grabbed his third just before the hour in Belgium courtesy of a cute pass from Juan Mata.

Ander Herrera added a fourth goal as United, 3-1 up after the first leg, eased through to the group stage of Europe's premier club competition 7-1 on aggregate.

"Obviously, I'm delighted to get the goals but it was a massive game for the club," Rooney told BT Sport.

"I know my quality and what I give to the team. Thankfully, I got chances and I took them.

"As a striker you want to score. I understand because of who I am I get publicised a lot more. But we knew we had to get into the Champions League, it was vital.

"It is nice to back in there."

*Reuters