Manchester United 3
Rangers 0
Scorers: Forlan (6), van Nistelrooy (44, 60)
A night to forget for Rangers, and a night also,
surely, for Alex McLeish to erase from his mind and those of his players as quickly as possible. Rangers were contemptuously swept aside by Manchester United in this one-sided match which made a mockery of its tabloid billing as the
so-called Battle of Britain.
This was no battle at Old Trafford last night. It was, alarmingly, a mere workout for United, who found an injury-ravaged Rangers team tame and malleable. For United, the chore of emerging from Group E in the Champions League now looks all but complete. For McLeish and Rangers, though, a mountain of a task looms.
A rifling volley from Diego Forlan after six minutes and two further goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy, the man supposedly without his scoring touch, did for Rangers.
By contrast, from the visitors, there was only grafting sweat in the middle of the park as move after move foundered upon United's excellence. In contrast to Ibrox two weeks ago, where Rangers were quite courageous, this match proved something of an embarrassment.
There were passages
when McLeish's team were hopelessly outclassed.
In Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Forlan, United had players whose movement and passing were beyond reproach, and
certainly beyond the plodding efforts of Rangers to get to grips with it.
The gulf in class was not missed around Old Trafford, where United's supporters mocked the visiting brethren, for instance, when cheering erupted among the Rangers supporters at their team winning a corner.
It was gruesome, frankly, watching Rangers grind their way through this while their supporters bemused this football shrine with their constant chanting about ''Fenian bastards'' and other heartfelt issues.
The home side's superiority was reflected in the poor, harassed, often shambling efforts of Rangers to build possession. Michael Mols may get by on his lack of true physical ballast in the SPL, but not at this level, not with a Rio Ferdinand effortlessly swatting him aside.
Craig Moore, before being injured, made timely interceptions, and in Shota Arveladze Rangers did have a player who threatened to trouble United, but the true threat of the visitors was feeble.
Already two goals adrift by half-time, this was a cruel night for Alex McLeish, whose renowned strength of character must have been tested as his team were outplayed. Given Rangers' injuries and their lack of options, nor was there much McLeish could do about it. With Paolo Vanoli, for one, grafting gutsily but to no avail, might a Capucho or an Emerson have done better?
With its towering bank of 67,000 seats, Old Trafford can be intimidating enough, though a raucous gathering of Rangers supporters produced their own unique noise. But there was, in truth, already apprehension in their ranks, especially with a Rangers team so denuded of resources through injury. McLeish must have sent up a private prayer for their survival.
As it transpired, he would hardly have time for a brief intercession before United scored. It was the sort of calamitous start, within six minutes, which the Rangers manager must have dreaded, especially as his side had already looked dreadfully inferior in those opening moments. Roy Keane's cross was headed out by Michael Ball and Forlan's subsequent volley sped ferociously past Stefan Klos.
United enjoyed various permutations from which to choose. Sir Alex Ferguson went with Ronaldo instead of Darren Fletcher and also dropped John O'Shea, delegating Quinton Fortune to left-back. When McLeish looked over and appreciated that a player like Nicky Butt sat resting on United's bench, he must have envied the luxuries of his old mentor.
Rangers had the strength of character to claw their way into the match but their passing was woeful and their finishing simply non-existent. On top of all this, and their early misfortune, players such as Vanoli and Mols struggled to meet the pace of the game. Mols, for instance, receiving a decent punt from Ball in behind United's defence, simply botched his attempt to control the ball.
Rangers were also rent asunder on the flanks. Giggs, such a proven player over so long at this level, gave poor Zurab Khizanishvili a wretched time of it. The Welsh international tore at the young Georgian all night, resulting in a series of scares in front of the agile Klos. On the other flank, Vanoli was made to look cumbersome by Ronaldo.
United bulged Rangers' net again after 44 minutes and once more Rangers were found wanting in the wide areas. Ronaldo's cross eventually fell for Forlan, whose venomous shot pranged back off the bar. Van Nistelrooy knew little about it as the ball bounced off him into the net, though the goal was no less merited for United.
Rangers' best period was when they spliced together a few salvoes early in the second half, but these were quickly hosed down by United. No sooner had Ball come close with a blocked effort than United were scoring at the other end. Giggs' 60th minute free-kick evaded every Rangers defender, but not van Nistelrooy, whose deft touch directed it past Klos.
On this evidence, Klos could feel particularly hard done by. It seemed last night that, on a number of occasions, the German goalkeeper dived to smother a shot or leapt to produce a fine save. You might never have known it, though, from such a comfortable scoreline. Group E is now a grisly task for Rangers.
group e
Panathinaikos1VfB Stuttgart3
PWDLFAPts
VfB Stuttgart4301849
Manchester Utd43011029
Rangers4112364
Panathinaikos40132111
Nov 26Panathinaikos v Manchester Utd
VfB Stuttgart v Rangers
Dec 9Manchester Utd v VfB Stuttgart
Rangers v Panathinaikos
manchester united
Howard
G Neville Ferdinand Silvestre Fortune
Ronaldo Keane P Neville Giggs
van Nistelrooy Forlan
rangers
Klos
Ball Moore Berg Khizanishvili
Vanoli Arteta Hughes Lovenkrands
Mols Arveladze
Substitutions
Manchester United Kleberson (Giggs 68), Bellion (Forlan 68), Fletcher (van Nistelrooy 77)
Rangers Capucho (Mols 56), Ross (Moore 68), Burke (Vanoli 82)
Subs not used
Manchester United Carroll, Butt,
Djemba-Djemba, O'Shea
Rangers McGregor, Emerson, Ostenstad, Dowie
REFEREE Pierluigi Collina (Italy)
Attendance 66,707
MATCH FACTS
Manchester UtdRangers
Shots On Target
72
Shots Off Target
4 4
Blocked Shots
22
Corners
23
Fouls
1613
Offsides
43
Passing Success %
78.975.3
Tackles
3036
Tackles Success %
76.755.6
Possession %
53.546.5
Territorial Advantage %
51.548.5
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article