Manchester United - 4 Olympiakos - 0The disparagement that has accompanied Manchester United's scruffy start to the season is making way for admiration.
Alex Ferguson is growing accustomed to the unfavourable comparisons with Arsenal, but he can be buoyed by one of the most impressive performances from his side for a long time.
By comprehensively outplaying Olympiakos, inspired by a renascent Juan Sebastian Veron and Ryan Giggs, United all but guaranteed their qualification for the second phase.
Olympiakos arrived having never won any of their previous 17 Champions League excursions and, for these sufferers of travel sickness, Old Trafford was always likely to represent another chastening experience.
United turned out in their blue away kit after the French referee Gilles Veissiere ruled a red stripe running down the side of the visitors' black shirts would clash with the usual home tops.
The Red Devils' sharpness in attack may have been blunted by the hamstring injury that forced Ruud van Nistelrooy's omission, but, with Paul Scholes alert behind Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Giggs looking like his old self and David Beckham as willing as ever on the right, the two-goal lead they nurtured before half-time did not flatter their superiority.
Scholes, at long last, is beginning to show signs he is finally acclimatising to his advanced role and it was his intuitive pass that was the catalyst for the first goal.
Though the ball got snarled under Giggs' feet as he was challenged by Georgios Amanatidis, the Welshman swiftly regained his balance, angling a low shot past Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos.
The rejuvenation of one of their most potent attackers has been a significant feature of United's gradual return to form and Giggs, with a level of self-belief that was scarcely evident just a couple of weeks ago, would represent a constant menace to their opponents.
Earlier in the season, it is a fair assumption that he would never have tried the showboating with Veron that sliced open the right side of the Greeks during one particularly sumptuous attack.
The same applies to Veron, but this was one of his more aesthetic nights and the goal with which he doubled United's lead may not be bettered by United this season.
A crisp one-two with Beckham took out a clutch of static defenders and Veron was suddenly clear.
Eleftheropoulos made up Veron's mind with his charge off his goalline, but, even so, the delicate pitch-wedge that the Argentinian executed over the Olympiakos goalkeeper into a gaping goal was a moment deserving of the highest acclaim.
One moment of South American impudence was followed by a piece of South American brutalism. Veron's imperiousness had clearly been noted and, as the opening half wound up, the Brazilian midfielder Ze Elias scythed into him with a studs-up lunge.
The red card flourished by the referee was thoroughly deserved.
Midway through the half Giggs scored again. It was clearly the intention of Giggs to cross the ball as he broke clear on the left but the ball flew off his foot at an angle that deceived Eleftheropoulous and went inside the goalkeeper's near post.
All that was left then was for Solskjaer, teed up by Scholes 13 minutes from the end of normal time, to add a final flourish with a typically composed finish from 12 yards.
For United, the rest of Group F promises to be a cakewalk.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Blanc (O'Shea 69), Silvestre, Beckham, Butt, Veron, Giggs (Fortune 69), Scholes (Forlan 77), Solskjaer. Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Phil Neville, May, Stewart. Booked: Veron, Gary Neville, Ferdinand. Goals: Giggs 19, Veron 26, Giggs 67, Solskjaer 77.
OLYMPIAKOS: Eleftheropoulos, Amanatidis (Patsatzoglou 73), Anatolakis, Antzas, Venetidis, Giannakopoulos (Dracena 45), Karembeu, Ze Elias, Djordjevic, Zetterberg, Ofori Quaye (Alexandris 59). Subs Not Used: Giannou, Giovanni, Kostoulas, Niniadis. Sent Off: Ze Elias (45). Booked: Anatolakis, Karembeu.
Referee: G Beissire (France).
