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| December 7, 2001 | Friday | Ramazan 21, 1422 |
United on course for a place in last eight
PARIS, Dec 6: Manchester United beat Boavista 3-0 in the European Champions League on Wednesday to keep them on course for the quarter-finals in a welcome diversion from troubles at home.
Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy twice found the target and French defender Laurent Blanc knocked in the other for a comprehensive and morale-boosting victory over the Portuguese champions.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich yet again showed their mettle for the big occasion to grab a 1-0 away victory against French club Nantes to keep their last eight hopes on track, also in Group A.
Brazilian Paulo Sergio scored midway through the second half to the benefit of the Bavarians headed by Ottmar Hitzfeld.
In the other games in Group B, Barcelona battled back to draw 2-2 at home against Galatasaray and stay top of the pool while AS Roma and Liverpool played out a goalless draw.
United, who by their high standards have been struggling this season with five defeats in 14 Premiership matches amd eighth in the table, won thanks to van Nistelrooy’s double and a Laurent Blanc header.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men went ahead just after half an hour when van Nistelrooy swept home Phil Neville’s low cross.
Much-maligned French defender Blanc, whose lack of pace has been exploited by Premiership strikers this season, showed he can be useful in attack by adding the second with a towering header 10 minutes after the break.
Van Nistelrooy notched his second after 62 minutes, slotting a low shot just inside the right-hand post after running beyond the Portugese defence.
The win sees United top the group on goal difference from arch-rivals Bayern Munich with four points from two matches.
“It was a good team performance. They kept their shape well and they kept their discipline,” said United boss Ferguson whose side are not back in European action until Feb 20.
“The first goal gave us confidence and in the second half we did very well too.
“Tonight we had a few good individual displays - and we haven’t lost a goal. We showed good team discipline.
“But we can put things to bed until February 20 and go and try and regain some form in the league. That is important.”
Injury-hit Bayern turned in a grimly efficient performance to win with a goal midway through the second half to give them four points from their opening matches following their opening home draw against Manchester United.
Nantes, in contrast, are on their way out after they added this loss to an earlier defeat at Portugal’s Boavista.
Semi-finalists in 1996 for their best European showing, Nantes were hammered by Bayer Leverkusen in their only previous meeting with German opposition and although they made Bayern work for the win the Brittany-based “Canaries” never looked capable of pulling off a shock.
Bayern were under strict orders from coach Ottmar Hitzfeld to get their act together following the dropped points against United and a weekend loss at Hertha Berlin which cost them a chance of going back to the top of the Bundesliga.
And despite the absence of injured key figures such as midfield dynamo Stefan Effenberg and German international keeper Oliver Kahn the Bavarians duly proved their mettle as Sergio’s header gave them the win.
Argentinian whizzkid Javier Saviola saved Barcelona with two second half goals against Galatasaray to help them stay on course for the quarter-finals.
Barcelona, 2-0 down at the break after goals by Umit Karan and Uruguayan Fleurquin, moved up a gear in the second half to sneak a point.
Galatasaray went ahead in the fifth minute through Umit. Umit got the better of a duel with Sweden’s Patrik Andersson for Ergun Penbehe’s cross and knocked the ball home.
Barcelona, who were under threat of having their Christmas holidays cancelled should their results not improve, had had the worst possible start.
Hakan Unsal crossed and Umit had a chance parried by Bonano but Fleurquin made no mistake with the rebound in the 41st minute for Galatasaray’s second.
Then came Saviola’s match- and face-saving exploits after the break.
UEFA Cup holders Liverpool had the better of the first half of a tightly-contested match but in the second period Italian champions AS Roma had long spells of possession without ever really coming close to making the vital breakthrough.
This was a rematch of the 1984 Final where Liverpool won their fourth and most recent European Cup at the expense of Roma in a penalty shoot-out even though the Italian side were playing at their home stadium.
Wednesday’s results:
Group A
At Manchester, England
Manchester United 3 Boavista 0
At Nantes, France
Nantes 0 Bayern Munich 1
Group B
At Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona 2 Galatasaray 2
At Rome
AS Roma 0 Liverpool 0.
Wednesday’s PREMIER LEAGUE results:
Chelsea 0 Charlton Athletic 1
West Ham United 1 Aston Villa 1
—AFP
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