Manchester United beat Celtic 4-0

Seattle:

In their first game without superstar David Beckham, Manchester United beat Glasgow Celtic 4-0 with goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and David Bellion opening their four game US tour in style on Tuesday. The Premier League champions swept aside their Scottish opponents and the performance was sure to keep both their legion of fans and their big money sponsors happy. Organisers hope that the seven-city tour will boost the profile of European soccer in the United States. The England Premier League champions are scheduled to play three more games, with Alex Ferguson's side facing Club America of Mexico in Los Angeles on Sunday. And while American fans are less familiar with other Manchester stars like Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Red Devils didn't miss Beckham, who was recently sold to Real Madrid for $39.4 million. United were a cut above their opponents Glasgow Celtic and led 3-0 by halftime. The rout began in the seventh minute, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer picked out van Nistelrooy, who fought off defender Stanislav Varga and fired the ball past Celtic goalkeeper Magnus Hedman. Van Nistelrooy went on the attack again in the 28th minute. The Dutchman's path to goal was blocked, but he passed back to midfielder Ryan Giggs, who blasted the ball in from the edge of the penalty area to make it 2-0. In the 39th minute, Solskjaer was picked out by defender by Gary Neville and the Norwegian found the target to put the Red Devils 3-0 ahead. Then, in the second half, David Bellion made his mark in his first appearance for Manchester United. The young Frenchman, who signed from Sunderland in the Summer, beat the offside trap and made it 4-0, shooting past substitute goalkeeper Robert Douglas in the 72nd minute. A near-capacity crowd of 66,722 fans jumped to their feet in celebration. The attendance was a record for the one-year-old Seahawks Stadium, with only a few seats at other end of the venue left empty. (AP)