Rooney Praise For 'Fantastic' DCL

Goalscorer Wayne Rooney focused on the positives after Everton came away with a 1-1 draw at Manchester City.

The forward put the Blues ahead on 35 minutes to record his 200th Premier League goal – only the second player to achieve the feat after Alan Shearer.

Despite having Kyle Walker sent off before the break, City fought back to earn a point with seven minutes to go through Raheem Sterling’s volley.

Rooney admitted it was ‘frustrating’ to concede late on. But the 31-year-old was full of praise for his fellow forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin – with the 20-year-old setting up the Academy graduate’s goal – and insisted the Blues could take heart from a gritty display.

“Our game plan really worked for us in the first half,” said Rooney. “City didn’t really create too much - they hit the post and [Sergio] Aguero had one where he didn’t shoot. We always knew that we were a threat on the break and we got our goal.

“It’s frustrating, 1-0 up at half-time and with the extra man but you have to give City credit. We came into the game thinking a point would be a good result and when we look at the grand scale of things it will be.

“We just wanted to frustrate them. We know they’ve got quality players and can move the ball quickly. We knew if we could frustrate them, we could create chances on the break.

“Dominic Calvert-Lewin was fantastic for us, held the ball up and brought players in. For a young lad he’s done really well.”

Rooney said it was “a great moment” to join Shearer in the 200 club, but quickly turned his attention to a busy few days ahead, with Everton going to Hajduk Split on Thursday in the Europa League, before a trip to Chelsea in the Premier League three days later.

“To join Alan Shearer [in the 200 club] feels great… but I still have a lot to do to catch Alan,” added England’s all-time top goalscorer. “It’s a great moment and hopefully there’s a lot more to come.

“We’ve got a tough week. We'll have had tonight, a couple of days’ rest, a game on Thursday and then another on Sunday. It’s a tough week and we’ve started off with a good point. Hopefully we can build on that in the next two games.”