Van Nistelrooy exacts revenge for United

Two goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy helped Manchester United to a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League tonight…

Two goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy helped Manchester United to a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League tonight.

United, who lost to the Germans in the semi-finals last season, took some measure of revenge by putting their campaign firmly on track after starting it by crushing Maccabi Haifa 5-2 at Old Trafford last week.

Van Nistelrooy fired through Leverkusen goalkeeper Frank Juric's legs with an angled shot from inside the box following a Juan Sebastian Veron cross on 31 minutes.

The Dutch striker was on target again one minute before the break, doubling the advantage from close range after being set up by Nicky Butt.

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The hosts reduced the arrears through substitute Dimitar Berbatov seven minutes into the second half but could not find an equaliser. Leverkusen, who were thrashed 6-2 by Olympiakos Piraeus in their group opener in Athens, now face a struggle to survive the first stage.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are still looking for their first point after a costly 1-0 home defeat by Feyenoord.

Despite constant second-half pressure the English premier league side were unable to cancel out Sebastian Pardo's fourth minute strike for the Dutch UEFA Cup holders.

Desperate to bounce back from last week's 2-0 reverse in Kiev, Newcastle surged forward after the break with Alan Shearer twice going close.

Peruvian Nolberto Solano and Welshman Craig Bellamy both forced sharp saves from visiting goalkeeper Edwin Zotebier, while substitute Lomana Lua Lua blazed wastefully over the bar after chesting down Shearer's cross.

Defeat leaves Newcastle bottom of group E with Feyenoord and Juventus sharing top spot on four points, one more than Dynamo Kiev.

Elsewhere, Italian clubs AC Milan and Juventus went on the rampage, winning 4-0 at Deportivo Coruna and 5-0 against Dynamo Kiev respectively.

Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick for five-times former winners Milan in Spain, while Marco Di Vaio was on target twice for Juventus as Italian football, much-maligned in recent seasons, put on a show of strength.

Barcelona also won impressively, 2-0 at Galatasaray in Turkey, and Olympiakos Piraeus came down to earth with a shock 3-0 defeat in Cyprus by Israeli debutants Maccabi Haifa, for whom Nigerian Ayegbeni Yakoubu hit a hat-trick.

Bayern Munich were held 1-1 at RC Lens in France while outsiders Club Bruges and Lokomotiv Moscow played out a goalless draw in Belgium. The Russians had Dmitry Loskov sent off late on.