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United far too strong for sorry Celtic

21/10/2008

Manchester United were far too strong for Celtic at Old Trafford, strolling to a comfortable 3-0 win in the Champions League.

A brace from Dimitar Berbatov, and a Wayne Rooney strike was the difference between the sides, although in truth Sir Alex Ferguson's men rarely needed to get out of second gear.

Celtic began in a decent manner with Aiden McGeady and Gary Caldwell both having long-range efforts, but United soon got their passing game together and were causing Celtic problems.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a good opportunity after 28 minutes, before the home side took the lead moments later.

Celtic failed to clear a Nani corner and, when the ball fell to John O'Shea, he helped it back into the box and Berbatov's clever flick gave Arthur Boruc no chance in the Celtic goal.

The visitors will feel aggrieved, however, as the Bulgarian looked to be offside when the cross came in.

Darren Fletcher should have made it two on the stroke of half-time, before Berbatov doubled his tally for the evening.

Ronaldo's swerving free-kick was only parried by Boruc and the Bulgarian had the simple task of placing the ball into an empty net, although he once again appeared to be in an offside position when the free-kick was struck.

Carlos Tevez went close to making it three before Rooney registered his ninth goal in seven games.

A flowing team move found the England man on the edge of the box, and his low shot flew into the bottom left corner.

The gulf in class was evident and the two sides will again meet in Glasgow in two weeks, with Celtic's Champions League hopes hanging by the slenderest of threads.

Gordan Strachan's men have just one point from three games, and are six points off United and Villarreal at the top of the table.