DURBAN, July 15: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored his first goals for Manchester United since 2003 as the English Premiership club cruised to a 4-0 friendly tournament victory against Orlando Pirates on Saturday.

Norway striker Solskjaer, 33, has missed large chunks of the last three seasons due to a series of knee injuries that threatened to end his career.

He last hit the net for United in a Champions League tie against Greek side Panathinaikos at Old Trafford in September 2003.

With team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy having told the club on Friday that he wants to leave after falling out of favour with manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Solskjaer's return to fitness has come at an ideal time.

He finally recovered from the knee injuries in December, but was then hit by hamstring and cheekbone problems in the second half of last season which restricted his hopes of making a first-team impression.

But Solskjaer looked close to his clinical best as he scored twice in the first-half against the South African champions.

His first was created by midfielder Paul Scholes, whose long ball enabled Ryan Giggs to release Solskjaer on the far side of goal.

With the ball at knee height, Solskjaer beat goalkeeper Francis Chansa with a crisp right-foot volley just four minutes into the game.—AFP