Veron praised as Juventus are outclassed

Manchester United 4 Juventus 1

Manchester United produced their most impressive pre-season performance at the Giants stadium, beating Juventus 4-1 in front of 79,005 - a venue record for football.

A spectacular Ryan Giggs free-kick and a sublime volley from Ruud van Nistelrooy may have received the loudest cheers on Thursday night, but both players deflected the praise towards Juan Sebastian Veron, who is being linked with a move to Chelsea.

"He [Veron] was the best player on the pitch tonight," Van Nistelrooy said. "He didn't lose the ball, and the assist for me was just brilliant. We know what Seba is capable of, we see it in training all the time and if he plays like he did tonight everybody will see what his qualities are. He's brilliant."

He added: "If you would ask any player, none of us would say that we would like to lose him. We all say 'please let him stay' and I think he will. Obviously we have spoken about the situation before and what is happening but I think it's in the past now for him and he's trying to take this as a second chance at the club, a new start. It feels good for him to start again."

Giggs concurred with that feeling. "I think Seba has played really well on this tour," he said. "He was man of the match tonight and if he carries on like that then it will be very pleasing for both us and Seba. There's no doubting his talent, he's a world-class player."

Giggs put United ahead in the 24th minute, curling a free-kick around the world's most expensive goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, from 22 yards. United's superior fitness meant they dominated in what was a sometimes fractious affair - against a team they have met more than any other in European competition - and they were 2-0 up after 57 minutes when Paul Scholes steered in a pass from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Three minutes later, Van Nistelrooy chested down a clever Veron ball before volleying a top-class finish past Antonio Chementi. The Dutchman's penchant for whooping celebrations like a WWF wrestler only adds to his popularity stateside.

Already overwrought by the news that his chairman, Vittorio Caisotto di Chiusano, had died at 74 earlier in the day, the Juventus coach, Marcello Lippi, had seen enough and simultaneously introduced seven substitutes, including Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero, who had initially been rested for tomorrow's Italian Super Cup against Milan in New York.

Lippi's team were briefly galvanised by a Nedved goal in the 70th minute which prevented United's New Jersey-born goalkeeper, Tim Howard, from keeping a clean sheet in an impressive debut. If the "You'll Always Be A Metro" flag was anything to go by, Howard left the New York/New Jersey Metrostars on good terms.

Diego Forlan should have scored from a one-on-one situation on 73 minutes but contrived to miss the target from six yards out. After setting up Solskjaer with a pinpoint crossfield pass for United's fourth on 79 minutes, the Uruguayan then contrived to miss an open goal from three yards out in the last minute of the match.

Perhaps Forlan was smarting from being forced to miss the Iron Maiden concert he had set his heart on attending. The striker is a big heavy metal fan, and when organisers offered him tickets to see Iron Maiden live at Madison Square Garden, he and two or three other United rockers wanted to go along. Sadly, the concert clashed with an official dinner with Juventus.

The miss only added to the entertainment, and with United continuing to provide it in spades, they are attracting dollar-laden American converts with every match.

Goals: Giggs (24) 1-0; Scholes (57) 2-0; Van Nistlerooy (60) 3-0; Nedved (70) 3-1; Solskjaer (79) 4-1.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Howard; P Neville (Butt, 75), O'Shea, Ferdinand, Fortune (Pugh, 80); Giggs, Veron (Fletcher, 65), Keane, Scholes (Bellion, 65); Solskjaer (Richardson, 80), Van Nistelrooy (Forlan, 65). Substitutes not used: Carroll, Ricardo, Lynch.

Juventus (4-3-3): Buffon (Chimenti, h-t); Ferrera (Legrottalie, 60), Montero, Pesotto, Birindelli (Fresi 60); Conte (Tacchinardi, 60), Maresca (Nedved, 60), Camoranesi (Appiah 60); DiVaio (Zambrotta, 60), Davids (Del Piero, 60), Miccoli. Substitutes not used: Iuliano, Trezeguet, Mirante.

Referee: B Hall (US).