One Foot in Europe

By David Hobbs
August 9 2005

Manchester United have one foot in the Champions League Group Stages following their comfortable 3-0 victory over Debrecen. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were all on target.

One Foot in Europe

Manchester United 3
Rooney 7
Van Nistelrooy 49
Ronaldo 61

Debrecen 0

Large sections of Old Trafford were left empty due to many fans protesting the recent takeover of Malcolm Glazer, whose three sons were in attendence.

Ryan Giggs missed out on the action with a chest infection, so too Quinton Fortune, Wes Brown, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with injuries. Edwin van der Sar made his first competitive start as a Red Devil in between the sticks.

Scotsman Darren Fletcher got the nod in midfield with skipper Roy Keane and Paul Scholes while Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy lead the attack. Player of the Year Gabriel Heinze continues his pre-season on the bench.

Ruud van Nistelrooy had a goal ruled off-side minutes after the kickoff but Wayne Rooney soon put the record straight on the 7th minute. Debrecen's defence couldn't cope with the prowess of van Nistelrooy and Rooney upfront and a loose ball fell to Rooney, whose reaction stunned everyone as his effort found the net.

The Red Devils enjoyed the lionshare of possession but often found it hard to break down the Hungarian champions, who hardly bothered Edwin van der Sar in the first half.

Debrecen emerged from half time with more hunger and even had the ball in the net minutes in. However, Halmosi's goal was not counted after a prior foul on Gary Neville.

Effortlessly, Ruud van Nistelrooy doubled his side's advantage by calmly slotting beyond Csernyanszki through a pin-point Wayne Rooney pass.

Cristiano Ronaldo's formidable attacking partnership with Rooney showed its potential once more as Rooney placed a low cross to the path of Ronaldo, who converted from a few yards out after the hour mark.

Debrecen had the chance to come back soon after United's third goal. Roy Keane conceded a free-kick of the edge of the box, but Edwin van der Sar collected Sandor's weak effort. Park Ji Sung and Alan Smith then replaced Roy Keane and Ronaldo.

Debutant Park showed good touches in his brief spell, nearly winning a penalty.

Giuseppe Rossi replaced goalscorer Ruud van Nistelrooy with ten minutes to go as United ran down the clock.

Final Score: Manchester United 3 - 0 Debrecen
Att: 

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O'Shea, Fletcher, Scholes, Keane, Ronaldo, van Nistelrooy, Rooney
Subs: Howard, Heinze, Miller, Park, Smith, Rossi, Richardson

Debrecen: Csernyanszki, Nikolov, Eger, Mate, Szatmari, Dombi, Sandor, Vukmir, Halmosi, Kerekes, Bogdanovic
Subs: Tomic, Madar, Komlosi, Bernath, I, Sidibe, Kiss, Boor

Refereed by: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)