Manchester United Cruise Past Bursaspor in Turkey 0-3

Manchester United all but sealed qualification to the knockout stages with an impressive victory over the Turkish champions in front of a passionate, packed crowd in Turkey. Sir Alex Ferguson fielded an experienced team, but included Chris Smalling to replace the rested Rio Ferdinand, and left United's latest star Javier Hernandez on the bench instead opting for winger Gabriel Obertan, who has failed to impress since joining from Bordeaux.

The visitors dominated early possession, holding the ball with relative ease, but failed to impose their dominance, with a tame header and a comfortable shot, both by Dimitar Berbatov, being the closest they came to opening the scoring in the opening half hour.

It was in fact the home side who came closest against the run of play when Turgay was put through on the right-hand side of the box but failed to capitalise on the opportunity, choosing a weak floated shot instead of power, resulting in a relatively straightforward save for Edwin Van Der Sar.

United maintained their patience and finally looked to have broken the deadlock just before halftime when Paul Scholes burst through a congested space before casually slotting his shot into the bottom corner. However, the goal was ruled out for handball, with no complaints from Scholes.

The two teams went into the break all square, but it was United who came out faster. Within two minutes of the restart United had ploughed forward, and Darren Fletcher placed his shot across the goalkeeper from an identical position to which Turgay had failed to find the back of the net. United deserved their lead.

The home side, spurred on by their phenomenal supporters, refused to lie down as they chased their first point, and goal, in the competition. They opened up, allowing for a much better game, and were nearly rewarded when Insua shot from inside the box, but again their final finishing quality let them down and Van Der Sar barely needed to move to stop Insua's effort.

With their newfound attacking sense Bursaspor always looked susceptible to the counter-attack and as the clock struck 70 minutes Obertan justified his selection with a superb individual goal. The Frenchman took a touch and turned inside a defender before rifling a shot into the roof of the net from just outside the area.

With the second goal came at the end of the contest, and within four minutes United had their third, when a sloppy pass allowed Scholes to play through substitute Bebe, who tucked the ball into the corner of the net to finish off a pleasing nights' work for Sir Alex.

With the result confirmed, the visitors played keep ball for the remaining 15 minutes with Bursaspor settling for wayward shots as they waited for the referee to put them out of their misery. Incredibly the home fans continued to provide a constant harmony in the background as United stroked the ball about the pitch.

The win leaves United in total control of Group C, three points clear of Valencia with two games remaining, while Bursaspor remain on the bottom, still chasing their first goal in the competition.