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Manchester United thrash Celtic 4-0
July 23, 2003 13:11 IST
Last Updated: July 23, 2003 13:19 IST
Manchester United showed there is life after David Beckham with an impressive 4-0 victory over Celtic in the opening game of their pre-season tour of the United States on Tuesday.
Goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and a debut strike from French winger David Bellion gave the English premier league champions a perfect workout in their first appearance since Beckham left for Real Madrid earlier this month.
In front of a record 66,772 crowd at Seattle's Seahawk Stadium, Van Nistelrooy began the rout in typically deadly fashion.
He received a seventh minute pass from Solskjaer before firing a left-footed shot past keeper Magnus Hedman.
United captain Roy Keane brought down Stilian Petrov in the area after 18 minutes but Alan Thompson missed the penalty for the Scottish premier league side and United took complete control.
Dutch forward Van Nistelrooy turned provider for Giggs for United's second on 28 minutes before Solskjaer -- filling in well for Beckham on the right flank -- swept home a right foot shot for a 3-0 lead six minutes before halftime.
Keane was replaced by Juan Sebastian Veron at the interval and United lacked their sharpness of the first half until Paul Scholes and Bellion were introduced as substitutes.
Scholes fed his new team mate and despite looking offside, the former Sunderland player slotted home from an acute angle.
The game was United's first of a four-match tour of the U.S.