Ruud is happy just winning

MANCHESTER UNITED sharp-shooter Ruud van Nistelrooy has no problem with being shoved aside in the scoring stakes.

Van Nistelrooy’s unerring eye for goal has become such a feature of this latest Red Devils side that, as Alex Ferguson remarked after Wednesday night’s win over Panathinaikos, if someone had seen United had won 5-0 and not spotted the Dutchman’s name on the scoresheet, they would assume he hadn’t been playing.

With 84 goals in 108 appearances since his £18.5m move from PSV Eindhoven two summers ago, the 28-year-old is now rightly regarded among the very best marksmen on the planet.

However, with Sunday’s crunch Barclaycard Premiership encounter with Arsenal at Old Trafford in mind, Van Nistelrooy claimed his personal goals mountain was irrelevant compared to the quest for collective success.

And, if extending his barren streak to two matches meant United would ultimately triumph over the Gunners this weekend, it’s a price he would be more than willing to pay.

“I wasn’t frustrated, it’s about what you do for the team. I was happy with the way I played and delighted for the players who did score. Some of the play in the first-half was magnificent and I really enjoyed being part of it. Now we can go into the Arsenal game with a good feeling.

“Our games against them are always so important and I’m sure it will be as tight and hard as it always is. But we have carried on our good pre-season form into the season proper and hopefully we will be able to continue that on Sunday.”

Although he suggested the five days recovery time after last night’s encounter was ample should his side have found themselves tested to a greater extent, Ferguson was no doubt delighted his side had the match sewn up at half-time.

Ferguson confirmed the early departures of John O’Shea and goalscoring duo Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Nicky Butt were purely designed to ensure minor niggles didn’t get any worse and they should all be in Sunday’s squad.

The United boss refused to confirm whether skipper Roy Keane would start, although with the Irishman’s ankle injury deemed to have recovered sufficiently for him to be named on the bench on Wednesday night, it seems inconceivable Ferguson will not throw his talisman into the fray.

And Paul Scholes may figure, following confirmation that his long-standing hernia problem was finally showing signs of easing, which has raised hopes the midfielder could be fit for England’s Euro 2004 qualification decider with Turkey in Istanbul next month.

Whoever is on the pitch, their manager will be there to guide them from the touchline, even though he is still facing the eventual prospect of a ban, or a heavy fine, following his dismissal at Newcastle last month.

Ferguson confirmed yesterday he will be contesting the two FA misconduct charges which have been levelled against him, although given television evidence of the incident, it appears his previously unblemished record will be his best form of defence.

The United boss faces two separate charges, one relating generally to alleged ‘improper conduct’ and the other specifically to claims that he used abusive language to the match officials. He has requested a personal hearing.

He initially lost his temper after referee Uriah Rennie decided against dismissing Andy O’Brien for his first-half foul on Ryan Giggs, even though the United forward appeared to be clean through.

Then, having been banished to the stand by Rennie following the intervention of fourth official Jeff Winter, Ferguson unleashed a four-letter tirade at Winter before heading down the dug-out and into Bobby Robson’s office, where he watched the remainder of the game.

“I was really angry about the failure to penalise or red-card Andy O’Brien for the foul on Ryan Giggs and made my feelings known from the bench in a way that I have done many times in the past,” Ferguson said immediately after the game.

“It was a blatant decision and you expect those sort of decisions to be given. I showed my anger to the fourth official.”

The FA are likely to take their time before deciding on a hearing date, which leaves Ferguson free to plot the Gunners’ downfall, just as he did in the same fixture last season, when unsung heroes Phil Neville and Quinton Fortune produced outstanding personal performances in a surprise 2-0 win for the injury-hit home side.