Ferguson praises strikers

Sir Alex Ferguson paid tribute to his strikeforce after Manchester United ran out comfortable 5-2 winners in their opening Champions League clash tonight.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored a goal apiece, but Diego Forlan stole the headlines with his first strike in 27 games for United.

David Beckham won a penalty late in the game but handed the ball to the Uruguyan who blasted it right-footed into the back of the net to seal the win.

“I am pleased for him, albeit a penalty but that will kick-start him I’m sure of that, he did some fantastic work and I’m pleased for him,” Ferguson said.

“The job was to make sure they didn’t get into our half because they are quite skilful there as they proved late on.

“Our attacking play was very good at times, I was really pleased with that and the confidence was good. They played as if they wanted to win.

“Solskjaer’s goal tells you what a great goalscorer he is. It will be a kickstart for him and give him the confidence to go on with it. Ruud took his goal well and the great thing is that he made a great goal for Ole Solskjaer and that is an important part, if you don’t score you contribute.”

Beckham, captain for the night, was delighted by United’s performance and revealed he had no hesitation in handing the ball to Forlan after winning the spot-kick because he would have been “hated by 67,000 people” if he had not.

He said: “It was a very good result, but more that the result were the goals and the performance were what we needed.

“The two players up front created chances for each other and that was the important thing about tonight. We gave away a couple of sloppy goals but it shows our character is still there and we’ve gone on from there.”

He added: “It was important for Diego to score, it’s been so long. He works hard for the team he’s had chances tonight where he could have scored but he’s seen a better chance and given it to someone and that shows what type of player he is, but it’s great that he’s got his first goal.”

Beckham is confident they can translate tonight’s performance at Old Trafford into the Premiership, where they have struggled of late, losing to Leeds only last weekend.

“It’s important for us to get going. We know we’ve got the ability, it’s just a case of getting it going. It’s all about confidence, but we have scored five goals tonight and hopefully the confidence will pick up again and we can go on in the Premier League.”

Forlan added: “I am happy to score my first goal and I am also happy because we won. It’s an important match to begin the Champions League. We had to win at home, so we did.

“I am trying to do the best for the team. It’s a great team with great players”