European Round up

Man Utd 3-0 Debrecen


Manchester United were thankful for a virtuoso performance from their young 19 year old wondkerkid Wayne Rooney as they all but sealed qualification to the group stages of the Champions League.

Perhaps fittingly, it was the first competitive game the Glazer brothers had attended, and they will have been delighted with the seemingly inevitable £10 million bounty that will follow Champions League qualification.

An in-form Ruud Van Nistlerooy nearly put United ahead in the fourth minute, but his strike as correctly ruled out for offside.

Rooney made amends in the 7th minute after excellent link up play with Van Nistlerooy as the England striker tucked the ball in the corner past the opposition's goalkeeper, Csernyanszki, who could only watch the ball trickle into the corner of the net.

United's lead was nearly double when Ronaldo's intelligent footwork put him clear through on goal but Csernyanszki made an unbelievable stop when the sight of the balling hitting the back of the net seemed a formality.

United came out in the second half expecting much more of the same. Total domination, and most importantly, more goals. But the Old Trafford crowd was stunned into absolute silence when Halmosi brushed aside Gary Neville and fired a rasping drive past Edwin van der Sar, only for his goal to disallowed for a foul on the United defender in the build up. The decision looked extremely harsh when the replay was shown, and United will have been grateful to have not conceded an away goal.

Nonetheless, it was business as usual for Manchester United in the rest of the second half. Ruud Van Nitslerooy doubled their lead in the 49th minute after being put through exquisitely by Rooney, and Ronaldo added a third via good work from United's man of the match, Rooney, down the right wing.

The result leaves United in pole position to book their places in the Champions League, which starts in September, and the Glazor brothers will be delighted as they were treated to a classic Manchester United masterclass against inferior opposition. Repeating the act again on Saturday against Everton may be a bit more tricky, however.

Manchester United Boss Sir Alex Ferguson :

"Wayne got 17 last season which was a great return when you consider the time it took for the transfer to go through and the recovery from his injury.

"Hopefully there will be more from him now he has started right away.

"Ruud is our main source of goals and there are 30 extra goals there, we know that, and he is off to the start he would have hoped for.

"It was our first competitive game and I am pleased with the state of our fitness.

"Debrecen had played seven competitive games before this and we expected this to be a test.

"We acquitted ourselves very well - and the game will help us for the start of the league season."

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O'Shea, Fletcher, Scholes, Keane (Park 67), Ronaldo (Smith 67), van Nistelrooy (Rossi 82), Rooney.Subs Not Used: Howard, Heinze, Miller, Richardson.

Booked: Keane.

Goals: Rooney 7, van Nistelrooy 49, Ronaldo 63.

Debrecen: Csernyanszki, Nikolov, Eger, Mate, Szatmari, Dombi (Boor 85), Sandor, Vukmir, Halmosi, Kerekes (Ibrahima Sidibe 52), Bogdanovic (Kiss 60). Subs Not Used: Tomic, Madar,
Komlosi, Bernath.

Booked: Mate, Vukmir, Nikolov.

Att: 51,701.

Ref: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).


Everton 1 Villarreal 2

A typical workmanlike display from Everton could not prevent them from slumping to a 2-1 home defeat to La Liga side Villarreal.

An angled shot from Luciano Figueroa, who was ironically rejected by Premiership side Birmingham this summer, put Villarreal in front against the run of play. Although James Beattie equalized, Josico's diving header put the visitors back in front, and Everton struggled to come to terms with the shock of scoring, then conceding just before half time.

Everton's fans were right behind their team from the word go and Goodison Park was a cauldron of noise, hysteria, and passion as the game kicked off.

The Merseysiders made a bright start, Kevin Kilbane delivered a terrific cross in from the left after good combination play with Pistone, but Beattie's effort was well saved.

Despite early dominance from Everton, Villarreal scored with their first attack of the match. An astute pass by Marcos Senna put Figueroa in on goal and he delivered an accurate finish which left Nigel Martyn in Everton's goal with no chance.

It was the classic European sucker punch which left Everton reeling, though they responded positively when Beattie struck. Phil Neville, starring in his first game for the Toffees, delivered a wicked cross in and Beattie reacted best to his own header to fire the ball past Villarreal keeper Mariano Barbosa and give Everton fresh hope.

However, whilst Everton were dreaming of Champion's League football, Villarreal repeated the act of scoring whilst the opposition team is on the ascendancy. Josico restored the Spanish side's lead with an accurate header from Sorin's cross. It was a real body blow to Everton as it came just before half time, totally against the run of play.

As Everton surged forward in the second half, they were nearly made to pay on the counter-attack as ex Man Utd player Diego Forlan sent a rasping drive into the side netting as Goodison Park held its breath.

The closest Everton came in the second half was when Marcus Bent went close after a tangle with the Villarreal keeper, though Barbosa eventually collected the ball after neatly denying the former Ipswich Town forward.

Although Everton through on the talismanic figure of Duncan Ferguson towards the latter stages of the game, the equalizer never came and they will be facing an uphill battle in Villarreal if they are to somehow resurrect Champions League football from a disappointing night at Goodison.

Everton Manager David Moyes :

"We could maybe have done better in the build up but you cannot fault the finishes."

"The second goal was a killer. If anything it looked like we might sneak one."

"They scored two here so we've got to believe we can score two in Spain. It's not beyond us.

"It will need a big effort, though. But I have seen the way games have gone in the past.

"Maybe we will get the rub of the green and the ball will bounce kindly for us."


Everton: Martyn, Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Pistone (McFadden 80), Cahill, Arteta, Neville, Davies, Kilbane (Ferguson 62), Beattie (Bent 63).Subs Not Used: Wright, Kroldrup, Li Tie, Osman.

Booked: Hibbert.

Goals: Beattie 42.

Villarreal: Barbosa, Rodriguez, Quique Alvarez, Javi Venta, Arruabarrena, Riquelme, Josico, Senna, Sorin (Pena 89), Forlan (Guayre 85), Figueroa (Tacchinardi 65).Subs Not Used: Lopez Vallejo, Hector Font, Kromkamp, Valencia.

Booked: Forlan, Figueroa, Rodriguez, Riquelme.

Goals: Figueroa 27, Josico 45.

Att: 37,685

Ref: Tom Ovrebo (Norway).



Anorthosis Famagusta 1-2 Rangers



Scottish side Rangers took a giant leap towards qualification to the group stages with a 2-1 win over Cyprus' Anorthosis Famagusta.

The Gers were indebted to second half strikes from Novo, and Ricksen for the win, though Frousos pulled a goal back immediately for Famagusta.

Ranger's got off to the bright start, Novo tested goalkeeper Georgallides, who needed to be at full stretch to prevent the Spaniard from opening the scoring.

Ian Murray was teed up by Novo later on in the first half but he ballooned his shot well over the bar.

The home side did come back into the game, and virtually dominated play until Ricksen struck in the second half.

First Frousos got in behind the Rangers back line only for the ball to flick off his chest and trickle wide of the post.

Frousos was again at the heart of another Famausta attack as he clipped the post with a chip which was intended to beat the scrambling Wattereus. The Dutch goalkeeper was then called upon to save a free kick which look destined for the back of the net from Anorthosis player-coach Temuri Ketsbaia just before half time.

Rangers had defended like lions for the majority of the match, though Novo gave them a priceless lead on the 65th minute after he reacted quickest to the rebound of a saved overhead kick from Fernando Ricksen.

The latter doubled Rangers' lead in the 71st minute as he tucked th pall past the oncoming keeper after being put through by Croatian striker Dado Prso.

Despite the inevitable euphoria which followed Ricksen's goal, Famagusta wasted no time in getting back into the game when Frousos, the player who had been a constant threat to Rangers throughout the match, fired home from just outside the box.

Predictably, the home side pressed for an equalizer and it nearly came when Waterreus saved well with his feet to deny substitute Kampantais what seemed a certain goal.

Rangers will be delighted with the win, but know that the tie is not nearly over after having to weather the storm for the majority of the match against their plucky Greek opponents.

Rangers manager Alex McLeish :

"We really have given ourselves a great chance,"

"But we remain cautious. It was a good result, but Anorthosis Famagusta created chances here and can make chances at Ibrox.

"I was disappointed to lose a goal after going 2-0 up, but I'm happy and my midfield three were terrific."


Anorthosis Famagusta player-coach Temuri Ketsbaia:

"I think that we can compete with Rangers in the second leg."

"For me, a draw would have been a fairer result. We had the better chances even though they scored twice."


Anorthosis Famagusta: Georgallides, Poursaitides (Tsolakides 74), Haxhi, Louka, Xenidis, Maragos (Konstantinou 83), Frousos, Kinkladze, Ketsbaia, Tsitaishvili (Kampantais 70), Nicolaou. Subs Not Used: Kokkinos, Markou, Samaras, Parmakis.

Booked: Xenidis, Haxhi.

Goal: Frousos 72.

Rangers: Waterreus, Pierre-Fanfan, Andrews, Rodriguez, Ball, Ricksen, Ferguson, Murray, Buffel (Lovenkrands 58), Novo (Burke 79), Prso (Thompson 74). Subs Not Used: Klos, Malcolm, Alex Rae, McCormack.

Booked: Ball, Ricksen, Andrews.

Goals: Novo 64, Ricksen 71.

Att: 16,900

Ref: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

(All team info/match reaction provided by www.bbc.co.uk/football)