Van Nistelrooij leaves Sir Alex beaming

David Beckham may have discovered on Wednesday that even the captaincy of England is not enough to guarantee you a place in the Manchester United FC starting eleven but it is unthinkable that Sir Alex Ferguson would contemplate going into an important fixture without a fit and available Ruud van Nistelrooij.

Double strike
The prolific Dutchman scored twice at Old Trafford to accelerate United's drive towards the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of RC Deportivo La Coruña, who have taken just one point from two games.

'Real threat'
It was an extraordinary night for the United centre-forward who also had two goals disallowed and saw two penalty appeals turned down. Not surprisingly Sir Alex was effusive in his praise afterwards. "His performace was fantasic and he was a real threat to them all game," he said. "His goals tell you everything about him."

Valerón in charge
While Beckham had to make the most of just nine minutes activity in his comeback after a rib injury, Deportivo coach Javier Irureta took the decision to include Juan Valerón from the start for the first time since the midfield playmaker sustained a fractured leg.

Dismal start
After a dismal start by the visitors Valerón began asserting himself and was usually at the hub of Deportivo's attacks. Yet by that stage they were already a goal behind, headed inside the near post by Van Nistelrooij after Paul Scholes had bent over a cross.

'We weren't up for it'
"It meant United could sit back and wait for us to come on to them and that suited their counterattacking game perfectly," Irureta said. "We weren't up for it in the first 15 minutes and we paid for that."

Early header
If Van Nistelrooij's early header was finishing of an assured nature then for the rest of the half it was a blind spot for United. Scholes, normally guaranteed to keep a cool head and a deadly eye when offered a clear sight of goal was twice badly awry when golden chances emerged.

Crucial phase
Deportivo were still in the hunt until a crucial phase at the start of the second half which saw the introduction of Diego Tristán. Immediately he went down in the area - Irureta judged it "a clear penalty" - Víctor drew a fine tip-over save from Fabien Barthez who then repelled a fierce drive from Roy Makaay. Within a minute United were threatening at the other end and Van Nistelrooij rammed in the loose ball.

Record breaker
He is poised to become his club's leading all-time European scorer and said: "I had a good taste of the Champions League with PSV Eindhoven and I am carrying that on with United. I am not here to change records but to do well for the teams and the fans."

Verón suspended
It was almost the perfect evening for United and would have been had Juan Sebástian Verón not got himself booked for a foul which rules him out of the Matchday 9 visit of Juventus FC.

'Maximum points'
"It's brilliant" said Ferguson. "We can put the competition to bed now with the knowledge that we have maximum points from two gamesand can pick it up again in February with two games against Juventus."