After 27 minutes and with echoes of his spectacular individual goal against Fulham, Van Nistelrooy picked the ball up in his own half and ran past three hooped shirts. With three defenders still to beat, he fed the ball to the unmarked Ryan Giggs who fired neatly into an open goal.The game was effectively over six minutes before half-time when Solskjaer made light work of a potentially difficult finish following a clever ball from Gary Neville. United’s fourth came on 72 minutes when the French winger David Bellion scored his first goal for his new club 12 minutes into his debut, finishing confidently from a tight angle.Asked whether he would be indulging in more transfer activity, Ferguson claimed: “We’re not doing any business at the moment. After the events of recent weeks, we’ve had to draw breath and analyse the situation.”Van Nistelrooy, who was named man of the match, added: “It doesn’t matter that Ronaldinho didn’t come. I’m not going to change my game and I hope to score many more goals.” While few doubt Van Nistelrooy, many United fans worry about the lack of back-up should the Dutchman get injured.Goals: Van Nistelrooy (7) 1-0, Giggs (27) 2-0, Solskjaer (39) 3-0, Bellion (72) 4-0.Manchester United (4-4-2): Carroll; G Neville, Ferdinand, O’Shea, P Neville (Pugh 88); Butt (Richardson 74), Fortune (Scholes 66), Keane (Veron h-t), Giggs (Bellion 59); Solskjaer (Fletcher 74), Van Nistelrooy (Forlan 59). Substitutes not used: Ricardo, Lynch.Celtic (4-4-2): Hedman; Smith (Mjallby h-t), Laursen (Lambert h-t), Varga (McNamara 74), Balde; Lennon (Kennedy h-t), Thompson (Sylla 74), Petrov (Maloney h-t), Agathe; Sutton, Larsson.

Substitutes not used: Fernandez, Douglas, Petta, Beattie, Miller, Crainey, Wallace.Referee: Kevin Terry (US).. Amid the wild speculation regarding Chelsea’s transfer activity in the aftermath of the club’s takeover by Roman Abramovich, there was talk of attempting to lure Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen away from Liverpool. I’m ready to commit myself to the club’s future and I’m sure that’s going to happen.”Another reported Chelsea target, Kieron Dyer, who has also been linked with Manchester United, will not be leaving Newcastle according to his chairman Freddie Shepherd. “Kieron Dyer isn’t for sale,” Shepherd said in Kuala Lumpur, where Newcastle are on tour. “I don’t think even Ken [Bates, the Chelsea chairman] has enough roubles.”While denying that Newcastle had placed a £25m price on Dyer, Shepherd added: “If we got a ridiculous bid, any club in the Premiership would sell him for that.

But we don’t want to sell him and have no intention of selling him.”Also speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Bates tried to cool the speculation regarding potential purchases “The expectations of fans are always impossible,” he said. “Money alone does not buy you success.”Confirming that his club had made no bid for Dyer, Bates denied claims from his Birmingham counterpart David Gold that Chelsea have abandoned “common sense” in their transfer dealings, saying: “We haven’t actually spent that much. So far we have spent £34m on four players, which is only £4m more than Manchester United spent on Rio Ferdinand last summer.”Gold’s club was the most active in the transfer market yesterday, signing the Argentinian striker Luciano Figueroa on a five-year contract. The 22-year-old, who joins from Rosario Central for £2.5m, completed a medical and concluded talks with the club’s managing director, Karren Brady.Figueroa, hailed by some as the new Gabriel Batistuta and the subject of a recent failed bid by Rangers, was the top scorer in Argentina last season with 17 goals, including five in Rosario’s 7-2 win over Boca Juniors.”We believe for the price we have got a very, very good player,” said the Birmingham manager, Steve Bruce.. The takeover of Chelsea Football Club by the Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich was thrust back into the spotlight today as it emerged that a second probe into shares in the team had been launched. In a mad moment during the summer of 1967, I agreed to act as a consultant to Toronto Falcons of the newly formed North American Soccer League.