Scholes delighted to get job done

It was a return to business as usual for Manchester United FC as they put the disappointment of losing last season's UEFA Champions League final against FC Barcelona behind them by kicking off their Group B campaign with a 1-0 win at Beşiktaş JK on Tuesday.

Positive note
The 2-0 defeat in Rome last May brought an end to United's record 25-match unbeaten run in the competition, but Paul Scholes's 77th-minute header put them back on the winning track in Istanbul. It was not a vintage United performance, but the 34-year-old took one of the few chances that came their way to ensure his side left Istanbul on a positive note.

Winning ways
"We won the game, and that's the most important thing," Scholes said. "Coming away in the Champions League is not always easy so to come here and win is what we aimed to do. You'd like to play a bit better than we did, maybe create more chances. We haven't done that, we got an important goal and won the game, and that's all that matters."

Scholes goal
The goal was Scholes's 22nd in the competition in his 109th match and made up for the disappointment of being sent off in Saturday's 3-1 Premier League win at Tottenham Hotspur FC, a dismissal that will keep him out Sunday's derby against Manchester City FC. "I was disappointed with that, and I just had to come into this game forgetting about that and hoping we could win," he said. "[The goal was] probably one of only a couple of occasions that I managed to get forward, and thankfully the ball came to me and I managed to score. We knew what to expect. We've been to Turkey a few times now, and we know the fans get right behind them, but we managed to overcome that, and we've got the win we needed."

Clean sheet bonus
Goalkeeper Ben Foster, playing in just his second UEFA Champions League game, also drew positives fom the match. "We kept a clean sheet as well and this is probably one of the toughest places to come away from home," the 26-year-old said. "I know Wolfsburg are a decent team, but coming here, some of the other teams are going to find it difficult." United host the German champions in their next match in the section on 30 September.