Man Utd humiliate Liverpool with 9-1 win as U18 star copies Rooney boxing celebration

Manchester United Under-18 star Ethan Wheatley copied Wayne Rooney's famous celebration after scoring in his side's rout of Liverpool on Saturday. Wheatley struck a hat-trick as the Young Red Devils romped to a 9-1 win on Merseyside, and there were shades of the club's record scorer in more ways than one.

For one of his goals Wheatley took the ball inside the area, turned, and slotted a right-foot shot into the bottom corner. He then ran towards the corner flag and unleashed some boxing punches, before falling backwards like he'd been KO'd.

Back in 2015, after scoring against Spurs, Rooney made a self-deprecating reference to a video that had been released by the British press and gone viral on social media. In the footage he England star appeared to come off worst while jokingly sparring with his friend and ex-United defender Phil Bardsley.

And given the United display, it's fair to say that Wheatley had earned the right to enjoy himself. In what proved a one-sided Under-18 Premier League encounter, the visitors humiliated the young Reds from the moment James Scanlon scored inside a minute.

Wheatley struck twice in quick succession before Ethan Williams effectively ended the contest inside 25 minutes. Joe Bradshaw did pull one back for Liverpool, but the respite proved brief.

Wheatley and Scanlon both added goals after the break to make it 6-1. But United weren't about to go easy from there, with Gabriele Biancheri duly adding a seventh.

The same player struck again in the dying minutes, before the rout was completed by Ashton Missin. The win strengthens United's grip on the top of the table, now 13 points clear of rivals Man City.

From 20 league games this season, United's youngsters have now won 17 times. And they've suffered just one defeat to allow disgruntled fans to at least laud the talent coming through at the club.

Utd fans can only dream of a similar result tomorrow, when the two senior sides clash in the top-flight at Old Trafford. Any type of victory would be welcomed by Erik ten Hag and co, whose Champioins League hopes are hanging by a thread after the dramatic defeat at Chelsea on Thursday.