Van Nistelrooy passes penalty test

Ruud Van Nistelrooy may have admitted to "losing my mind" in the tunnel after being spat at by Sylvain Armand during and after Manchester United's draw with Nantes but, crucially, he did not lose his head.

Sir Alex Ferguson spoke admiringly about a "test of temperament" for the Dutchman as he stepped up to take a penalty which proved virtually the last kick of an absorbing contest that illuminated the Stade de la Beaujoire on Wednesday. Although Uefa, the sport's European governing body, confirmed yesterday it would be taking no action against Armand because the incident was not mentioned in the referee's report, it has been another fine week for United's No 10.

In truth, everything the Dutchman has done since his arrival from PSV Eindhoven in the summer has been a test, both of his temperament and his ability. The penalty was a case in point, driven into the very depths of the corner of the net, past Nantes' outstanding goalkeeper, Mickaël Landreau.

It was Van Nistelrooy's 27th goal of the season and his seventh in the Champions' League. In the course of less than one season he is already halfway to matching Denis Law's tally of 14 European goals for United while Andy Cole's record of 18, achieved over five years, should fall with astonishing speed.

The vehemence with which Manchester United pressed home their attacks in the second half after what their captain, Roy Keane, described as a frankly poor first period, allowed them to avoid embarrassment in Brittany and provided further evidence that, although their defence is not good enough to win the European Cup, their forward line most certainly is.

"We never thought it would be a game like that. We expected it to be tighter because of Nantes' record of not scoring or conceding many," said Gary Neville. "We murdered them in the second half. I don't think you can expect to create that many chances away from home in Europe ­ we should have scored three or four."

Significantly, they looked most threatening when Van Nistelrooy was paired with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Dutchman, who did not expect to be playing on his own when joining United, has coped manfully as the lone striker but there were signs in Nantes that Ferguson might be better reverting to the 4-4-2 system that has underpinned United's dramatic revival in the Premiership. Solksjaer's form has been almost as incisive as Van Nistelrooy's but the presence of Juan Sebastian Veron has meant they are rarely seen together in Europe.

At £28m Veron has proved an expensive luxury that not even a team like Manchester United can really afford. He was brought to Old Trafford to give United an extra "European dimension", although in Nantes on Wednesday the Argentinian began with a string of careless passes that surrendered possession and control of the midfield. Ferguson is not a man to change his mind easily but he might be persuaded of the benefits of starting with two on-form strikers, a formula which did, after all, win him the European Cup in 1999.

For a man who is the most expensive player ever to have kicked a ball for a British club, Veron has become an almost peripheral figure at Old Trafford. When Van Nistelrooy ran to the 3,600 United fans ­ the largest away following to have come to Nantes for a European match, more even than Juventus sent for the 1996 European Cup semi-final ­ the bond between player and supporter was obvious. As for Veron, the "Little Witch" from Buenos Aires, they know virtually nothing of the spells he can cast.