SOCCER/Group D/Manchester - 4 Sparta Prague - 1: Watching Ruud van Nistelrooy destroy Sparta Prague last night it seemed extraordinary that Manchester United have found goals such a rare commodity in their domestic travails.
This was the sixth time he has scored a hat-trick or more since coming to Old Trafford and, even though he benefited from two atrocious back-passes and an unconvincing penalty, the Holland striker has never been fussy about the quality of his goals.
His game is about being merciless to opponents and on that count this was an unforgiving demonstration, one that all but guarantees United a safe passage to the competition's knock-out phases.
United have now scored in 39 of the their last 43 matches in the Champions League and are second only to Real Madrid in terms of the competition's all-time records.
Van Nistelrooy's record in the Champions League stands at 35 goals in 36 starts and, having overtaken Denis Law's club record, he seems intent on obliterating it.
Had his team-mates displayed a similarly ruthless edge, United might have rid themselves of all their frustrations in front of goal well before half-time.
Gabriel Heinze can regard himself as unfortunate that his searing drive came back off the inside of a post but Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes missed opportunities they will not care to see replayed.
Van Nistelrooy was never likely to be so charitable. His first goal might have owed much to an extraordinary act of generosity from the Sparta centre-half Jifi Homola, but there was something impressive about the manner in which van Nistelrooy anticipated a woeful back-pass and had the composure to sidestep the advancing Jaromir Blazek and roll the ball into the net.
Amid all the accolades it would be remiss to overlook the Machiavellian part Scholes played in coaxing the penalty that offered the striker the chance to register his second goal.
In the week that Ferguson insisted he would not tolerate his players diving, vehemently defending the apparently indefensible in terms of Wayne Rooney's sly contribution against Arsenal here 11 days ago, there was some doubt about the manner in which Scholes went to ground in the 24th minute.
Television replays confirmed what had been pretty obvious at first glance, namely that Scholes had started his tumble before there was contact from Martin Petras. The Sparta left-back collected a yellow card for his troubles and van Nistelrooy confidently converted.
The paradox was that United's most impressive player on the night was not van Nistelrooy but their goalkeeper Roy Carroll. Sparta's bright and inventive attackers posed plenty of problems through the opening exchanges and, as was the case in Prague a fortnight earlier, Carroll produced a succession of outstanding saves, most notably when he denied both Tomas Jun and Lukas Zelenka in the closing moments of the first half.
The Northern Ireland international might not have the high-profile status of some of his predecessors but his form at present justifies Tim Howard's continued exclusion from the team.
Carroll's timing is impeccable given that he is currently in talks over a new contract. The same applies to Wes Brown whose advisers met the club's board yesterday and who was preferred in the team ahead of Mikael Silvestre.
Silvestre can hardly complain after a difficult start to the season but the exclusion of Ryan Giggs was a shock. By introducing Liam Miller to the right wing, with Ronaldo on the left, Ferguson seemed to be scapegoating Giggs for the team's scarcity of goals. The two wide players swapped roles in the second half and Giggs cannot have failed to notice that Miller is still to acclimatise to this level.
The most obvious concern for Ferguson, however, was the frequency with which Sparta prised open the home defence. What had seemed a relatively straightforward ride took on a new complexion when, seven minutes after the interval, Sparta put together the best move of the night and Jun teed up Zelenka to score past the advancing Carroll.
Just as Old Trafford was starting to fret, Kovac's weak header back to Blazek presented van Nistelrooy with the opportunity for his hat-trick. The striker beat the goalkeeper to a bouncing ball and hooked in.
United's fans could afford to be generous then and Karel Poborksy received a standing ovation after his second booking prompted an early departure against his former club. The real acclaim, though, was reserved for van Nistelrooy who tapped in his fourth from Miller's stoppage-time cross.
MANCHESTER UTD: Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Heinze, Miller, Keane, Scholes (Phil Neville 69), Ronaldo (Kleberson 69), Rooney, van Nistelrooy. Subs not used: Howard, Saha, Giggs, Smith, Djemba-Djemba. Booked: Miller, Brown. Goals: van Nistelrooy 14, 25 pen, 60, 90.
SPARTA PRAGUE: Blazek, Pergl, Homola, Kovac, Petras, Sivok, Vorisek (Meduna 72), Poborsky, Zelenka, Urbanek (Simak 81), Jun (Pacanda 81). Subs not used: Bicik, Michalik, Cech, Koubsky. Sent Off: Poborsky (87). Booked: Poborsky, Homola. Goal: Zelenka 53.
Referee: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg).
