Shanghai Shenhua had their pitch specially mown to face Manchester United but still found the Treble-winners a cut above yesterday.
United were unhappy with the length of the grass when they inspected the surface before kick-off, and assistant boss Steve McClaren asked if it could be cut. The Chinese hosts obliged, and United duly recorded their smoothest performance yet of their pre-season tour.
The goalscoring heroes of the Champions League final, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham, netted in the second half against the Chinese league leaders to maintain United's 100 per cent tour record.
United have not conceded a goal in their three wins and they will be aiming to protect that record when they play their final tour game against South China in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Reborn Robbie Fowler flies with a rebuilt Liverpool into Belfast today with the praise of his manager and captain ringing in his ears.
The Anfield striker has blitzed a personal four-goal salvo in Liverpool's two pre-season friendlies so far and now has his sights trained on Irish part-timers Linfield today and Dutch champions Feyenoord on Saturday in the Belfast Challenge tournament at Windsor Park.
Fowler's brilliant form has come to the aid of Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier as he continues his £25 million Anfield re-fit, with Newcastle's Dietmar Hamann expected to complete the formalities of his transfer before joining his new team-mates in Belfast. Aston Villa manager John Gregory is confident that he will soon add Wolverhampton Wanderers and Republic of Ireland international striker Robbie Keane to his list of summer signings.
Gregory flew out yesterday with Villa to take part in a pre-season tournament in New York after completing the signings of George Boateng and Naguan Garayeb. But he insisted that negotiations aimed at landing the £6 million Keane before the big kick-off on August 7th will continue in his absence.
"My being away with the team in America won't make any difference to the situation. The negotiations will carry on," said Gregory.
Stilian Petrov's Celtic future will be decided in Glasgow on Wednesday July 28th. The 20-year-old Bulgarian international was refused a work permit by the British Department of Employment (DfE) following his decision to join the Parkhead club from CSKA Sofia for £2.8 million.
Petrov has not been a regular in his country's national side over the past two seasons, but the 19-year-old has been a permanent fixture since making his debut 12 months ago. Celtic will argue that he should be made a special case and the DfE confirmed on Tuesday that an appeal had been lodged.
