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Manchester United have been home to some fantastic strikers since the inception of the club. Even in the Premier League era, the hallmark of Sir Alex Ferguson’s league-winning teams were swashbuckling goalscorers who could smell their way to the back of the net. One of the ever-present features of the successful United teams over the last century has been a solid striking partnership at the helm of the attack.
The Red Devils have often showcased a partnership between two strikers in the team; two goalscorers with the ability to play off each other and capable of driving fear into the hearts of the opposition. The Manchester giants have missed such a pair in the team since Ferguson’s retirement until the re-emergence of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season.
Those two might have laid down a marker this season had the Englishman not picked up an unfortunate injury earlier in January. Rashford had already scored 19 times before he was sidelined, while Martial is nearing his best tally ever for United, after scoring his 15th of the season against Watford. What has United fans rubbing their hands in glee is the telepathic understanding between the two of them, which paints a great picture of things to come in the years ahead.
Some legendary striker duos have graced Old Trafford over the years, but who are the deadliest of them all? Read on to find out.
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#5 Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes
Having been one of the architects of the start of Manchester United’s dominance in the Premier League era, Eric Cantona joined the club in November of 1992. The team was in dire need of a goalscorer and the Frenchman turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for Sir Alex. After his arrival, the Red Devils lost just two games in the league and went on to lift the inaugural Premier League trophy and their first league trophy in 26 years.
At Old Trafford, Cantona formed an unconventional strike partnership with Mark Hughes and the two of them teamed up very well to spearhead United to success. The Welshman had turned his career around after rejoining the Manchester outfit from Barcelona in the summer of 1988 and alongside Cantona, propelled the Red Devils to the top of the league and into the limelight.
The two of them only played two-and-a-half seasons together but formed one of the deadliest strike forces in the history of the club. They won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two Community Shield trophies together before Hughes left Old Trafford to join Chelsea ahead of the 1995/96 season. Cantona, on the other hand, retired at the end of the 1996/97 season.
Hughes has since claimed that had he been around during the infamous kung-fu incident at Selhurst Park, he would have managed to stop Cantona from reacting wildly; such was the bond between the two players. Sadly, the Welshman was nursing an injury himself and couldn’t stop Cantona from lashing out at a fan in the crowd.
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#4 Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo
The partnership between Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney lit up the Premier League for five seasons before the Portuguese departed for the Santiago Bernabeu. By then, the two of them had formed one of the greatest striker duos in Manchester United history.
The start of the partnership began in the summer of 2004 when the Englishman joined the Manchester club from Everton. By then, Ronaldo had completed his first season with the Red Devils and had won his first silverware with the cub – the FA Cup. United fans were already drooling over the Portuguese teenager when they had another young footballer to get excited about.
Rooney was the more prolific goalscorer at the start of the partnership, but Ronaldo soon picked up the pace. The two of them pushed each other to their limits and Old Trafford watched in awe as they brushed opponents away. In the 2006/07 season, the two of them scored 23 goals each for United and the following season, they managed to hit 60 goals together, with Ronaldo scoring 42 and Rooney scoring 18! They went on to score 46 goals between them in Ronaldo’s final season before he headed to Spain.
By then, the two of them had won 3 Premier League titles, 2 League Cups, one Community Shield, one FIFA Club World Cup and one UEFA Champions League.
#3 Stan Pearson and Jack Rowley
Jack Rowley joined Manchester United as a 17-year-old in 1937. It was around the same time that another teenager was making his first senior appearance for the Red Devils- Stan Pearson. The two of them showed promise of a bright future, but that partnership was broken as Pearson left to serve the 2nd/4th regiment in the Second World War. The fighter that he was, Pearson emerged a stronger character at the end of the war and came back to Old Trafford to fulfill his destiny.
By then, Rowley had turned into a very capable goalscorer himself. Pearson immediately struck a chord with his countryman and the old spark in their strike partnership was back. Under Sir Matt Busby’s tutelage, United were emerging out of the shadows and marching towards regaining their lost glory. With the right guidance from Busby, the Pearson-Rowley striker partnership blossomed into one of the finest of the world and propelled United to the 1948 FA Cup.
The Red Devils continued to gather forces at the turn of the decade and Rowley’s goalscoring prowess continued to make a mark, earning him the nickname “Gunner”. Pearson also complemented him fairly well and the two of them were at the mix once again as the Red Devils won the league in 1952.
By the time Rowley left United in February 1955, he had scored 211 goals from 424 appearances. He is only the 4th United player to score more than 200 goals for the club. Pearson managed 148 goals from 343 appearances for the Red Devils, before leaving for Bury in 1954.
#2 Dennis Violet and Tommy Taylor
The foundation of one of the greatest strike partnerships in the history of the game was forged in 1953 when Tommy Taylor joined Manchester United from Barnsley. By then, a young Dennis Violet had forced his way from the academy into the first team and was already raising eyebrows with his ability to score goals.
Violet built a wonderful understanding with Taylor and the two of them complemented each other brilliantly on the field. The former’s speed, combined with the latter’s aerial prowess gave opposition nightmares and the two spearheaded the emergence of the Busby Babes.
Taylor was one of the finest strikers to have graced the beautiful game and went from strength to strength as the years progressed. Violet was no spectator either and he ensured that the two of them pushed each other towards excellence. With them heading the attack, Manchester United powered to the 1955/56 as well as the 1956/57 league title and also won the Charity Shield on both occasions.
The Busby Babes were already sending shockwaves across the country when the Violet-Taylor partnership begun to make their mark in Europe. United were on the rise and much was expected of the strike partnership, which was slowly transforming into one of the most feared in Europe. Sadly, life came to a standstill all of a sudden, as Taylor lost his life in the infamous Munich disaster in 1958. By then, he had managed 131 goals from 191 appearances.
Violet was one of the survivors of the crash and did recover to continue his goal-scoring antics in the coming years, eventually leaving the Red Devils in 1962, with 179 goals from 293 appearances. Yet, it is terrifying to imagine how much more United would have achieved had the Violet-Taylor partnership lasted for more than 5 years.
#1 Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke
One of the greatest striker partnership in the Premier League era came into existence in the fabled 1998/99 season. By then, Fergie’s Fledglings had well and truly captured the imagination of football fans around the world.
Sir Alex Ferguson had managed to turn United’s fortunes around but was still on the lookout for another striker to add to his squad. He had initially zeroed in or Patrick Kluivert, but when that deal failed to materialise, the Scottish manager was forced to opt for Dwight Yorke. Sir Alex did not initially want to pair the Trinidad and Tobago international with Andy Cole, who was the main striker at the club, but the opportunity was forced upon him in October 1998.
The two of them started together for the first time against Sunderland, and it was immediately clear that this was a match made in heaven. Their telepathic understanding and the ability to complement each other was there for everyone to see and both players found the back of the net that day. They were two players running on the same wavelength and Manchester United were destined to reap the benefits of their partnership. When Cole assisted Yorke for the first goal of the game, it was the start of something magical. Pretty soon, the Cole-Yorke partnership was the talk of the town and had United fans dreaming big.
The Red Devils ultimately went on to complete a historic treble that season and that team is widely regarded as one of the best that the Premier League has ever seen. Central to the team’s success that season were the two brilliant strikers who managed 53 goals between them in all competitions.
The pair won 4 Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one UEFA Champions League as well as one Intercontinental Cup during their time with the Red Devils and they are arguably the deadliest goalscoring duo in Manchester United history. The partnership was ultimately broken in the 2001/02 season when Andy Cole joined Blackburn Rovers.
