For Sir Alex Ferguson there are two shooting stars in the firmament. "Rooney today, for me, was out of this world," the Manchester United manager cooed after the striker had blown away Watford with an "aggressive, determined" performance which probably ranked as his best for quite some time.
Given that the day before Ferguson had talked of Cristiano Ronaldo's "astronomical" improvement then he certainly has reason to believe that "they are something special, those two".
It has been Ronaldo's season and United have rewarded their talisman, the player who is garnering plaudits from every quarter with a five-year, £31 million contract - a cool £120,000-a-week - making him the club's highest-earner. Not so long ago, perhaps, it was on Rooney, not Ronaldo, that those honours would have been expected to cascade. Or at least English football would have hoped so. Yesterday there was a sharp reminder of just what a player the younger man, at 21 as opposed to Ronaldo's 22, is.
Two young tiros. Three goals. The Ron and Roon Show. But it was Rooney who was the match-winner. Speed, spikiness, skill. There is probably no one more thrilling in world football just now than Ronaldo but there remains something edgy and raw about Rooney. He probably even opens up the morning post with intent.
He certainly opened up Watford. Ferguson decided to go for the jugular with a bristling but risky 4-2-4 formation and there is nothing that Rooney likes more than hunting down the opposition. His starting point was the left flank, and Watford's right-back, Adrian Mariappa, got the chasing of his life, but like Ronaldo the striker was given licence to switch with Alan Smith through the centre and Ryan Giggs just off him.
It was fluid and slick and Rooney used the flanks as launchpads for both first-half goals. For the first he ran on to to Michael Carrick's pass, cut inside and slammed the ball unerringly beyond Richard Lee, who simply looked startled. So were the crowd. It was a breath-taking strike.
Then, moments after Watford had drawn level, he won a header against Jordan Stewart simply because he wanted to more than the defender and this time he set off down the right flank. Soon Rooney was inside the penalty area and although his shot grazed off Lee, the ball was diverted to Ronaldo.
Goals for United's two top-scorers. Indeed it should not be forgotten in Ronaldo's phenomenal season that although he has 21 goals, Rooney is not so far behind on 18. At the same time it is testimony to his durability that no one in the United squad, apart from Rio Ferdinand, has made more than Rooney's 47 appearances. Maybe at times he should have been rested as he is not the kind of player who can perform effectively at anything less than full tilt.
These were his fourth and fifth goals in this FA Cup campaign and the first rivalled the virtuoso chip against Portsmouth for its execution. For his second goal he was again the hunter, forcing Stewart to squander possession. The ball ran to Smith, he centred and Rooney swept it home. It could have been a hat-trick but opportunities were spurned.
There was, almost inevitably, a card also with Rooney booked for barrelling straight through Tommy Smith. It was a ninth caution of the season but that aggression is part of what Giggs termed the "fire within" as he likened Rooney to Roy Keane and Paul Ince. And although it needs to be controlled it must not be dimmed.
Ronaldo has so eclipsed the England striker at United this season that Rooney now clearly defers to Ronaldo but, on a bright spring evening, it was to be his day in the sun. And how Rooney shone.