United deserve half-time lead

Olympiakos 0 Manchester United 1

Laurent Blanc’s first goal of the season was enough to give Manchester United a deserved interval lead against Olympiakos in Athens tonight.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men – helped greatly by the abysmal goalkeeping of Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos – were dominant from the first whistle and the only surprise at the break was that they only managed to find the net once.

Blanc struck after 21 minutes when Ryan Giggs found the Frenchman completely unmarked with an inswinging corner, which was despatched with the firmest of headers.