Van Nistelrooy dismisses talk of rift at United

CHAMPIONS League goal-king Ruud van Nistelrooy has dismissed the Old Trafford dressing room row as a two-second phenomenon.

Van Nistelrooy continued his amazing European scoring spree with the late match-clinching second against Juventus on Wednesday as United moved to within a single point of a quarter-final berth with three Group D matches still remaining.

However, the Dutchman’s predatory powers were overshadowed by the continuing fall-out from the dust-up between Alex Ferguson and David Beckham after last weekend’s FA Cup defeat to Arsenal. “I don’t think anybody in the team was worried about the headlines in the papers this week,” said the £18.5million former PSV Eindhoven man. “I don’t think anybody thought about it for longer than two seconds. The way David Beckham played last night sums up the way he is. There has been a lot written and said about him, but he is always there for us, for the crowd and everybody at this club. Because of that I have great respect for him.”

Beckham completed the full 90 minutes despite appearing to aggravate the calf strain which forced him off against the Gunners and his United future seems as secure as it ever has been.

The same could also be said of van Nistelrooy. It has been suggested that United officials were keen to sit down and discuss a contract extension with the 26-year-old forward, even though his present deal still has over two years left to run.

The Juve strike was his 28th of the current campaign and 64th of his United career. His European statistics are even more startling. The former PSV man found the net in each of his last seven outings, with 11 goals in the process.

Despite playing less than three seasons in the competition, van Nistelrooy has moved ahead of Filipo Inzaghi into a clear fourth spot in the overall Champions League scoring charts with 27, just one adrift of Patrick Kluivert and Alessandro del Piero who share second spot.

Ferguson hailed Wednesday’s effort, a neat turn in the box followed by a delicate finish to Beckham’s looped cross as ‘magnificent’ and van Nistelrooy admitted he was happy with the way his Red Devils career was progressing.

“We showed our willingness to fight for a good result. Everybody defended when they had to and both Becks and Ryan Giggs were getting back to help out when needed. It really summed up our overall performance and, because we worked so hard, Juventus had a pretty hard time.”

The result leaves United needing just a draw in Tuesday’s re-match at the Stadio della Alpi to seal a quarter-final berth, although, even if they fail to achieve that aim, the visit of Basle to Old Trafford on March 12 provides a handy buffer ahead of the last-day trip to Deportivo La Coruna.

Opposing coach Marcello Lippi expects to have a stronger line-up available, including the likes of Gianluigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram, although del Piero will still miss out due to a thigh injury.

Meanwhile, Juan Sebastian Veron is set to return to United’s squad for the Premiership trip to Bolton tomorrow, but Mikael Silvestre is a major fitness doubt.

The Argentinian midfielder picked up a toe injury on international duty in midweek which ruled him out of the crunch FA Cup tie with Arsenal.

“Going back a couple of years I had a similar knock on the same toe but that time I sustained a fracture,” said Veron. “This time it’s only bruising, which is great news.”

Silvestre may miss out after limping off with an ankle injury during the 2-1 win over Juve.