SPORTS

Man Utd ease to win in Beijing

July 26, 2005 23:01 IST

Korean Park Ji-sung scored his first goal for the club as Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 pre-season win over Chinese side Beijing Guo'an on Tuesday.

The Premier League side wasted several good opportunities in the first half, striker Ruud van Nistelrooy being the worst culprit, before midfielder Paul Scholes headed a precise cross into the corner of the net in the 40th minute.

Scholes scored again four minutes later when he charged through the middle and smoothly clipped a Van Nistelrooy pass into the net.

United struck again early in the second half when winger Cristiano Ronaldo streaked down the right flank and crossed for midfielder Park to head a simple goal.

Park looked lively throughout the match with his neat passing and aggressive tackling.

"He's a goal scorer. His movement, penetration in the last third of the field is very good," United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters. "I'm very pleased with him."

A nasty challenge on Van Nistelrooy in the second half was one of several unfriendly moments in the match, in which two Beijing players were carried off and United's Phil Neville and Alan Smith received yellow cards.

"It was competitive," Ferguson said. "I don't think it got out of control, I thought the referee handled it well.

"Tonight was a much more competitive game than in Hong Kong. I'm very satisfied."

United opened their Asian tour with a 2-0 win over Hong Kong on Saturday, and next travel to Tokyo for friendlies against Japanese clubs Kashima Antlers and Urawa Reds.

United's China trip followed a similar money-spinning tour by Real Madrid, who earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Beijing on Saturday.

Source: REUTERS
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