CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Manchester Utd 3 Celtic 0:A Dimitar Berbatov double and a strike from Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a comfortable victory over Celtic in their Champions League encounter at Old Trafford. United dominated from almost the first whistle although the former Tottenham striker looked offside when he flicked the ball past Hoops goalkeeper Artur Boruc from close range in the 30th minute.

And in the 51st minute the Bulgarian sealed the tie when he grabbed his second with a little help from Boruc.

After Scott Brown had fouled Anderson 30 yards from goal, Ronaldo fired in the free-kick which the Celtic goalkeeper parried right in to the path of Berbatov, who knocked the ball into an empty net from inside the six-yard box.

Celtic looked deflated and moments later Rooney then had the ball in the net only to be flagged offside before he lashed over the bar from the edge of the box with Boruc well out of his goal.

United swarmed around the Celtic box and Tevez, eager to make an impact, had a drive deflected for a corner which the visitors again repelled.

In the 76th minute, in a simple move that emanated from Van der Sar through Fletcher, Rooney got the goal his play deserved when he took a Tevez pass before driving past Boruc from the edge of the box.

It was all over with Celtic contemplating yet another defeat on their European travels.

United cruised through the final minutes with all the confidence of a side that look good enough to retain the trophy they won in Moscow against Chelsea last season.

The other game in Group E finished Villareal 6 Aalborg 3.