Manchester United beat Debrecen 3-0 in qualifing match
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-10 15:07

Manchester United's 3-0 victory over Hungarian champion Debrecen in a Champions League qualifier Tuesday put Malcolm Glazer's club in a commanding position to reach the main stage of Europe's top club tournament.

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, right, is congratulated by teammates Cristiano Ronaldo, centre, and Ruud van Nistelrooy after scoring the opening goal against Debrecen of Hungary during their Champions League third qualifying round first leg soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2005. [AP]

The second-leg games are in two weeks' time with the winners advancing to the group stage of the lucrative soccer competition.

In the five other third-round, first-leg games, it was Glasgow Rangers 2, Anorthosis 1; Wisla Krakow 3, Panathinaikos 1; Valerenga 1, FC Brugge 0; and Villarreal 2, Everton 1, and Real Betis 1, Monaco 0.

Wayne Rooney gave United a 1-0 lead after only seven minutes, then set up Ruud van Nistelrooy with the second goal in the 49th. Again it was Rooney, this time passing to Cristiano Ronaldo, who made it 3-0 in the 63rd.

"We played really well, we didn't give anything away," van Nistelrooy said. "We kept it very solid as a team. We attacked as a team and defended as a team. We didn't give them many chances."

The three sons of Malcolm Glazer — Joel, Avi and Bryan — were at Old Trafford for the Reds' first competitive game under the American's ownership.

Several hundred fans demonstrated outside the 67,500-seat stadium. No incidents were reported, but about 16,000 empty seats greeted the new owners.

On a visit in June shortly after Glazer took control of the club in a $1.47 billion takeover, the brothers needed a police escort from the stadium.

Bryan Glazer was forced to defend his father when a group of fans broke into a VIP area after a victory over Beijing Hyundai on a recent tour of Asia.

Villarreal, which finished third in Spain last season behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, had first-half goals at Goodison Park from Luciano Figueroa (27th) and Josico Moreno (45th). Everton got a goal from James Beattie.

Nacho Novo (65th) and Fernando Ricksen (70th) scored for Rangers, with Nikos Frousos counting in the 73rd for the Anorthosis of Cyprus.

At Oslo, Norway, Steffen Iversen scored in the 57th to give Valerenga a 1-0 win over FC Brugge. Iversen, who scored twice against Sweden's Djurgarden in the first qualifying round, beat Brugge goalkeeper Tomislav Butina with a near-post shot.

Emmanuel Olisadebe gave the Greek side Panathinaikos a 1-0 lead after only four minutes, but Wisla Krakow of Poland rallied with goals from Pawel Brozek (12th), Kalu Uche (52nd) and Tomasz Frankowski (70th).

Spain's Real Betis got its goal from Edu Schmidt in second-half extra time. Edu pounced on a long pass from midfielder Alberto Rivera to steer the ball home and bring the Spanish team a victory in its debut in the competition.

Ten matches are set for Wednesday. It will be Anderlecht vs. Slavia Prague, Artmedia Bratislava vs. Partizan Belgrade, Basel vs. Werder Bremen, Brondby vs. Ajax, CSKA Sofia vs. Liverpool, Rapid Vienna vs. Lokomotiv Moscow, Malmo vs. FC Thun, Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Inter Milan, Steaua Bucharest vs. Rosenborg, and Sporting Lisbon vs. Udinese.

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