Manchester United moved a step closer to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with an easy 5-1 win over French side Nantes in their Group A meeting at Old Trafford tonight.
Frederic Da Rocha gave Nantes a shock early lead but England captain David Beckham curled in one of his trademark free-kicks within 90 seconds to restore parity for the Premiership leaders.
United then moved up a gear to go 3-1 up before half-time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mikael Silvestre both finding the target with close range headers.
Leading marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy netted the fourth for United from the penalty spot and Solskjaer completed the rout by grabbing his second and United's fifth 12 minutes from the end.
A late Emile Heskey equaliser kept Liverpool's faint Champions League hopes alive in a tense 1-1 draw against Group B rivals Galatasaray.
Heskey's ferocious 79th-minute shot into the roof of the net from close range earned the Merseysiders a share of the points after their Turkish opponents had looked set for victory.
Radu Niculescu had headed Galatasaray into the lead on 70 minutes, the Romanian international's strike a just reward for the home side's second-half dominance.
But Liverpool coach Phil Thompson threw on out-of-favour Finn Jari Litmanen in a last desperate throw of the dice and the move paid off, the attacking midfielder slipping a neat pass for Heskey to level.
In other matches tonight Roma beat Barcelona 3-0 and Bayern Munich triumphed 1-0 over Boavista.
AFP