Salomon Kalou came off the bench to score in the 89th minute and give Chelsea a 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday that keeps the champions' Premier League title hopes alive for at least another week.
Rooney began his playing career with boyhood club Everton, scoring his first goal in spectacular fashion as a 16-year-old against Arsenal.
Didier Drogba was on target again as Chelsea, the only top-six team in Premier League action on Saturday, chalked up their 11th successive league win over West Bromwich Albion with a 3-1 triumph at the Hawthorns.
Golden oldies Frank Lampard and John Terry inspired Chelsea to a 3-1 win at Blackpool on Monday to keep alive the club's outside hopes of retaining their Premier League crown.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti believes that the club is benefiting from England's ouster from the 2010 World Cup as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have all looked in good shape.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Everton knocked holders Chelsea out of the FA Cup when they won their fourth-round replay 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The wife of a linesman, who wrongly disallowed Frank Lampard''s goal against Germany, revealed on Thursday that she instantly knew he had blundered.
England were denied an equalising goal in their World Cup second round match with Germany on Sunday when a Frank Lampard shot from 20 metres out hit the crossbar and dropped well over the line.
England insist their dire World Cup start is behind them and they can go on to win the tournament having salvaged their campaign with a sprightly 1-0 win over Slovenia on Wednesday. After two dour draws in their opening matches, England progressed in second place in Group C behind the United States, who came top by virtue of goals scored, after a much-improved, at times panicky, performance in Port Elizabeth.
England's John Terry made "a very big mistake" talking to the media about player unrest in the squad, hardline coach Fabio Capello said.
Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho's move to Real Madrid has caused panic at top Premier League clubs, as he has set his sights on certain players.
West Ham United and Chelsea both narrowly avoided ignominious FA Cup exits with narrow wins against lower-league opposition but Everton marked Frank Lampard's first game in charge by sauntering past Brentford into the fifth round on Saturday.
Chelsea secured the Premier League crown in magnificent fashion on Sunday with an 8-0 thrashing of 10-man Wigan Athletic in a party atmosphere at Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard passed the 150-goal milestone for Chelsea on Saturday with four goals in a 7-1 hammering of Aston Villa as Carlo Ancelotti's side roared back to the top of the English Premier League.
Chelsea's goal-rush was staunched by Stoke City but the Premier League champions maintained their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 home victory.
Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League when they convincingly beat Birmingham City 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has been selected as the Premier League's Player of the Decade, by facts and figures' wizards Opta.
Frank Lampard scored from the penalty spot as Chelsea restored their three-point lead in the English Premier League with an unconvincing 2-1 home win against bottom club Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge in London, on Wednesday. Champions Manchester United had pulled level on points after beating a weakened Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 on Tuesday in manager Alex Ferguson's 900th league game in charge.
England can argue for as long as they like about the goal that never was, but ultimately it was the team that never turned up that brought their poor World Cup campaign to an end against old rivals Germany.
Germany, fuelled by a second half double from Thomas Mueller, crushed long-standing rivals England 4-1 in a controversy-filled World Cup encounter on Sunday to book a spot in the last eight.
Andriy Shevchenko might have had problems playing in England but will be Ukraine's main threat in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, former Chelsea team mate Frank Lampard said Monday.
Captain John Terry headed Chelsea five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday as his 76th-minute goal secured a 1-0 home victory over champions Manchester United.
Any combination of midfielders should be strong enough for England to reach the knockout phase of the World Cup but if they are to make a real challenge for glory then someone is going to have to provide the X-factor.
Chelsea overcame a resilient Portsmouth to win a dramatic FA Cup final 1-0 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and achieve their first League and Cup Double.
Liverpool's lingering Premier League title hopes virtually disappeared on Saturday when they lost 2-0 at Middlesbrough as the home side secured their first league win in 15 matches.
Holders Chelsea beat Aston Villa 3-0 to sweep into the FA Cup final for the third time in four seasons on Saturday and keep alive their dream of a first FA Cup and League double. All three goals came late in the game with Didier Drogba breaking Villa's resistance after 67 minutes before Florent Malouda (89th) and Frank Lampard, deep in stoppage time, gave Chelsea an ultimately comfortable victory.
Frank Lampard hit four goals for Chelsea in a 7-1 demolition of Aston Villa to put the Londoners briefly on top of the English Premier League with 71 points before United responded with a 4-0 win in an evening game at Bolton Wanderers -- Dimitar Berbatov scoring twice for the champions.
Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea came from behind to win 3-1 at Sunderland on Tuesday and make it two wins from two in the Premier League.
Chelsea beat Manchester United on penalties to win the Community Shield on Sunday after a feisty 2-2 draw that offered few clues as to the destination of the far bigger prizes to be fought over during the next nine months.
Five talking points from the Premier League weekend:
England coach Fabio Capello will be without at least six of his first-choice side for Wednesday's friendly against Germany in Berlin after midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard withdrew from the squad on Monday.
First-half goals from Didier Drogba earned Chelsea a 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, securing them a return to the top of the Premier League, two points ahead of Manchester United.
Frank Lampard and Edin Dzeko scored twice as holders Manchester City sailed into the English League Cup fourth round with a crushing 7-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on Wednesday.
Leaders Chelsea hit seven goals in the top-flight for the first time in 50 years when they hammered Sunderland 7-2 on Saturday to lay down an ominous marker for the second half of the Premier League title race.
England moved to within three points of next year's World Cup finals by crushing Andorra 6-0 on Wednesday to win their seventh successive Group Six qualifier.
England secured an emphatic 4-0 victory in Kazakhstan on Saturday to move closer to qualifying for next year's World Cup finals.
England begin their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign against Czech Republic on Friday at Wembley Stadium
Frank Lampard has been named Chelsea's Player of the Year for a record third time. The England midfielder is the first player to win the accolade three times, the English Premier League club said on Friday.