00:00Newcastle. And Andy Cole hat-trick virtually assured the Premiership champions are placed in the next stage of the competition,
00:06but United's victory was marred by a terrible challenge to Dennis Irwin, who has stretched it off ten minutes from
00:12time.
00:13United's Group B rivals Juventus also won. They beat Kozicci 3-2 in Turin.
00:19Newcastle, though, virtually out of the competition after being beaten 2-0 by PSV Eindhoven at St. James' Park.
00:24Dynamo Kiev won the other match in Group C with an amazing 4-0 win over Barcelona at the Nou
00:31Camp.
00:34United came needing a win to give themselves a chance of making the quarterfinals.
00:38They left with the points and more from a composed and self-controlled performance.
00:43For all that, it was a quiet start and 20 minutes passed before the first meaningful chance on goal.
00:48But United were always the sharper around the box.
00:52Sheringham forcing a great save from the keeper.
00:56And United weren't to be denied for long.
00:58Who else but the in-form Andy Cole was on the end of Neville's long ball.
01:04After that, it just got easier and easier for United.
01:07Cole's second came a minute before the break.
01:10Feyenoord threatened briefly when Van Bronckhorst's shot rocked the United crossbar after the break.
01:16But Cole was just as eager at the other end for his hat-trick.
01:23Giggs then tried to get in on the goal-scoring act with a speculative long-range effort.
01:28But distance was no problem for Cole's hat-trick.
01:31Giggs is called penalty!
01:35United's triumph threatened to be overshadowed when a high and unpunished tackle on United's Dennis Irwin
01:40left the defender rolling in agony.
01:42And Alex Ferguson fuming at officials and his opposite number on the Feyenoord bench.
01:49The injury wasn't as bad as was first feared.
01:52But it soured the night for United almost as much as the single goal that Feyenoord managed to pull back
01:57late in the half.
01:58But it was never going to be enough to knock United out of their stride
02:02or stop them from marching on to the quarter-finals.
02:05Kerry Dyson, Sky News.
Comments