The sixteen year old has captured the imagination of the whole of English football and he is a player we have been telling you about on TheFA.com for some time now. Yesterday Wayne showed why!

Having come on as a substitute for David Moyes' team, and with the game about to head into injury time, Rooney picked up the ball outside the area and unleashed a venomous effort which crashed into the roof of the net off the underside of the crossbar. It gave his side a 2-1 victory against the Champions and earned him superhero status on both sides of Merseyside this weekend.

To hit a strike of that quality against the best side in England at the moment is further evidence that Wayne has both the talent and the personality to achieve big things in the game.

Arsène Wenger accepted the setback graciously, and was full of praise for Rooney. "He is the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. We were beaten by a special goal from a very special talent," Arsenal's manager said.

Before Howard Wilkinson left his post as Technical Director at The FA, we asked him to describe the precious Everton forward. His appraisal was as simple as it was praiseworthy. "He can score goals for fun," said Howard.

He certainly had fun yesterday.

Here's a look at some of the other young guns who did not exactly waste time in finding the back of the net.

PREMIERSHIP

Wayne Rooney for Everton against Arsenal, October 19 2002, aged 16 years 360 days.

Michael Owen for Liverpool against Wimbledon, May 6 1997, aged 17 years 144 days.

Andy Turner for Tottenham against Everton, September 5 1992, aged 17 years 166 days.

OLD FIRST DIVISION (now Premiership)

Jason Dozzell for Ipswich against Coventry, February 4 1984, aged 16 years 57 days.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Ronnie Dix for Bristol Rovers against Norwich (Div 3 South), March 3 1928, aged 15 years 180 days.

FA CUP FINAL

Norman Whiteside for Manchester United against Brighton, May 14 1983, aged 18 years 18 days.

LEAGUE CUP FINAL

Norman Whiteside for Manchester United against Liverpool, March 19, 1983, aged 17 years 324 days.

Here are all of Saturday's results.

Blackburn 5-2 Newcastle

Everton 2-1 Arsenal

Fulham 1-1 Man Utd

Leeds 0-1 Liverpool

Man City 0-3 Chelsea

Sunderland 0-1 West Ham

West Brom 1-1 Birmingham

Click here to read TheFA.com's exclusive interviews with the finest young England players coming up through the ranks.