Vintage Veron lifts United

Manchester United 4

The Argentine classically finished off David Beckham’s return pass to break the Greek hearts after Ryan Giggs had put the home side in front in their Champions League encounter.

Giggs added a bizarre second courtesy of a Georgios Anatolakis deflection before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rounded off a victory which maintains the Red Devils’ 100% record in Group F and virtually assured them of a place in the last 16.

Veron bagged a wonderful goal to set the seal on a brilliant first-half display from Manchester United. The Red Devils were already one-up against Greek opponents Olympiakos thanks to Ryan Giggs’ 20th-minute opener when Veron raced onto David Beckham’s return pass then beat the keeper with a perfectly executed first-time chip from the edge of the area.

United played in their blue away kit after referee ruled a red stripe down the side of the visitors’ black shirts would clash with the usual home tops.

Former Middlesbrough midfielder Christian Karembeu was quickly into the action with a neat flick to Georgios Amanatidis but it was the home team who launched the first attack, Silvestre being chopped down by Stelios Giannakopoulos.

David Beckham swung the free-kick in dangerously but visiting keeper Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos met it with a punch, managing to connect with Laurent Blanc at the same time, temporarily flattening the Frenchman.

Peter Oforiquaye shot harmlessly wide as the visitors countered before Paraskevas Antzas chopped down Veron as he tried to reach Ryan Giggs’ return pass.

Veron met Giggs’ corner with a flicked header which looked to be heading in until Eleftheropoulos plunged low to his right to save.

Olympiakos were struggling to contain a fluid home attack but escaped just long enough for skipper Predrag Djordjevic to drift a cross over from the left which floated above an unmarked Par Zetterberg.

United briefly lost their way, but once they found the right path again, they took the lead. Solskjaer took possession 35 yards out with his back to goal and fed Scholes, whose cross fell almost perfectly for Giggs.

Unfortunately, the Welshman failed to connect properly with the first attempt, but the rebound came straight back and he wasted no time in slotting the home side in front.

Paul Scholes had a penalty appeal turned down after he was brought down by Eleftheropoulos, who had failed to collect Giggs’ low cross at the first attempt, then the Greek keeper raced out to collect at Scholes’ feet after the ginger-haired maestro had burst into the box.

It was all looking too much for the visitors, who, with their abysmal away record in Europe, seemed likely to crumble if United could find another.

Right on cue, Veron struck with the kind of skill seen all too rarely since his big-money move from Lazio.

Beckham played a perfectly-weighted return pass along the ground to the sprinting Argentinian and as the keeper advanced, Veron, still at full pace, calmly chipped in from 20 yards.

Ze Elias lobbed harmlessly over as Olympiakos tried to respond but Peter Oforiquaye wasted a better chance eight minutes from the break when he was put clear by Stelios Venetidis.

Instead of shooting with his first touch, Oforiquaye opted to push on into the area, allowing Silvestre to get back and block his route to goal before Nicky Butt charged in to rob him of possession altogether.

Veron was booked for a foul on Zetterberg before the Argentine skipper was the recipient of a two-footed challenge by Georgios Anatolakis which brought the second yellow card. The flurry of cards continued when Karembeu hacked down Scholes by the right touchline.

And yellow turned to red in stoppage time when Ze Elias caught Veron with a woeful tackle over the ball which left referee Gilles Veissiere with little alternative other than instant dismissal.

Olympiakos brought on Edu Dracena for Giannakopoulos at the interval, although they would have probably needed Kevin Keegan in charge to mount the kind of fightback required.

After producing four cards in three minutes before the interval Veissiere reached for his pocket again within two minutes of the restart as Neville was punished for a late tackle on Djordjevic.

Scholes fired narrowly wide after cutting across the edge of the area as the Greeks’ defensive nightmare continued.

With victory assured United lost some of their edge and produced only sporadic attacks, which mingled with the arrival of Alekos Alexandris for Oforiquaye and a yellow card for Rio Ferdinand after he had sent Djordjevic tumbling.

The home side were in command though and they certainly didn’t need the good fortune which came their way after 65 minutes when Giggs’ cross from the left struck Anatolakis, leaving Eleftheropoulos wrong-footed as the ball hit the net from an acute angle.

It was Giggs last involvement as Quinton Fortune was given his first run out of the season after an Achilles problem picked up during the World Cup. Blanc departed at the same time to give John O’Shea more valuable first team experience.

Christos Patsatzoglou was thrown on for Amanatidis in the final 15 minutes but it could not stem the blue tide, Scholes setting up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who dispatched his fourth goal of the season into the corner. It was the end of Scholes’ night as Diego Forlan arrived to huge acclaim, hoping to add to his single United strike.

MAN UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Blanc, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt, Veron, Giggs, Scholes, Solskjaer.

OLYMPIAKOS: Eleftheropoulos, Amanatidis, Anatolakis, Antzas, Venetidis, Giannakopoulos, Karembeu, Ze Elias, Djordjevic, Zetterberg, Ofori Quaye.