Ajax...2 Manchester United...1: Alex Ferguson could draw encouragement from the performances of record signing Rio Ferdinand and England skipper David Beckham even though his side were deservedly beaten by Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA last night.

British record signing Ferdinand looked composed for an hour before he was replaced by Wes Brown while Beckham showed no ill effects from the foot problem which plagued him during the World Cup this summer.

Other than that though, there was little to cheer for United, who looked rusty as their full squad had their first pre-season outing.

They certainly could not match Ajax's fluidity in attack, Victor Sikora and Andy van der Meyde causing particular problems.

Sikora, who spurned a summer move to Fulham, opened the scoring in the first half when he reacted quickly and volleyed home from close range after Tomas Galasek's free-kick had been deflected into his path by Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Zlatan grabbed a second 15 minutes from time when he advanced onto a long through ball and stroked his shot past Fabien Barthez.

Half-time substitute Paul Scholes pulled one back almost immediately when he volleyed home a Ryan Giggs cross, but Ajax held on for the win which took them two points behind four-team tournament leaders Barcelona and left United last.

The visitors had already received a couple of scares before Sikora gave Ajax the lead six minutes before the break.

With Van der Meyde creating problems on both flanks with his tricky dribbling, the Red Devils had to defend more crosses than they would have liked.

Van der Meyde himself volleyed a good chance over after Sikora had picked him out at the far post, then the winger turned provider, finding room on the right before landing his cross on the head of Rafael van der Vaart.

The Dutchman had split Ferdinand and Blanc and his header rocketed past Fabien Barthez, but also against the bar.

Juan Sebastian Veron was then forced to hook Sikora's back flick from Van der Meyde's corner off the line.

In response, United could only manage a couple of half chances, plus a poor Diego Forlan effort.

The Uruguayan snatched at the rebound after Maarten Stekelenburg had bravely raced from his goal to deny Van Nistelrooy and blazed high over the bar.

Sikora's opener was no more than Ajax deserved for their efforts but it brought a positive response from Keane who drove into the home half before crossing into the path of Giggs, who floated his header just wide.

The introduction of Nicky Butt and Scholes at the interval for Beckham and Veron brought a change in formation but not noticeable alteration to the pattern of the contest.

With Forlan moving wide, Van Nistelrooy ploughed a lone furrow up front, Giggs doing his best to support from the left.

However, at the other end, Van der Meyde and Sikora continued to work the United defence hard.

Scholes was on the end of two crunching tackles in quick succession, the second, from Cristian Chivu bringing a petulant kick from the England man, though both escaped without a lecture.

The two-goal burst which followed left United still a goal behind, although despite the apparent meaningless nature of the contest, one man's competitive nature still ran as deep asever, with Keane haring into the Ajax net to retrieve the ball after Scholes' sweet strike.

After the frustrations of the summer, Keane was clearly out to prove a point but his last-ditch attempt at grabbing the equaliser only found the side netting.

AJAX: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Bergdolmo, Galasek, Chivu (Pasanen, 76), van der Meyde (Pienaar, 60), Zlatan, Maxwell (Wamberto, 71), J O'Brien, R van der Vaart (Winter, 60), V Sikora (Mido 60)

MAN UNITED: Barthez (Carroll, 76), Silvestre, P Neville, Veron (Butt, 46), Blanc, Ferdinand (Brown, 58), Beckham (Scholes, 46), Forlan,, van Nistelrooy (Pugh, 65), Giggs, Keane

Referee: R Temmink (Netherlands)