Manchester United 3 Valencia 0

Roy Keane reached the 37th minute of his new Manchester United career and blasted a shot into the Valencia net to set up a convincing win for the defending champions.

The decision by the Irish captain to sign a new four year contract with the club that makes him the highest paid British-born player was announced before the kick-off and Keane did his part to help justify the £50,00 a week deal that smashes the United pay structure and takes the English game onto a new level of pay demands.

Keane advanced on a weak defensive header and from the edge of the penalty area slammed the ball wide into the net for a super finish. It was the shot that United needed to break through the Valencia defence and proved the decisive moment of this match.

Jocelyn Angloma indicated that the Spanish side could no longer sit back and defend after conceding the goal by running into the area from the right hand flank and sending a hot just over the bar but any thoughts Valencia had of getting back into the game were killed off less than two minutes into the second session.

Great midfield tackling from David Beckham saw him win the ball back and play a one-two that gave him a few feet of space on the right hand side. Beckham turned and hit in a cross to the near post in one move withoiut looking up and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had gambled on just such a pass into the box. He had run in front of his marker and the Norwegian had a simple tap in at the near post for the second goal.

Angloma responded four minutes later by forcing a save from Raimond van der Gouw with a shot on the run before Claudio Lopez wasted the best chance of the night for the Spaniards.

Carboni played the Argentine into the left hand side of the area and with no marker near him he sent a shot over the bar with van der Gouw advancing to meet him.

Oscar skied a through pass from Angloma in the 55th minute before a good run from Angloma brought him in from the right hand side but the sight of goal led the former Torino player to send his shot high and wide of target.

Valencia's resistance was at an end once Lopez' long range 66th minute free kick was saved by van der Gouw with a diving stop. The only bright point left for the Spanish side was the return of Goran Vlaiovic from injury just before the end but United had outclassed the visitors by then.

A David beckham free kick put the seal on this win for United when he side footed the ball into the area to meet the run of Paul Scholes who glanced the ball into the far corner of the net with a well timed header.

The holders were excellent on the night and can have every confidence in their form if this was any indication of their recent efforts. David Beckham in particular dominated on the right hand side and prompted good attacks while Keane and Jaap Stam were able to shut down Lopez completely and move the ball forward from the back. After the defeat in Florence this game saw United back in command of their European destiny.