Manchester United last night revived their Champions League hopes in spectacular fashion as they swept Brondby aside in the Parken Stadium with stunning pace and finishing.
By the half hour United were three ahead, Giggs tapping in the first after a goalkeeping error and uncharacteristically nodding in the second before Cole increased their lead.
Kim Daugaard briefly brought Brondby into the contest, courtesy of a mistake by Peter Schmeichel, but three more goals for United early in the second half confirmed their superiority.
Roy Keane, who, with Paul Scholes, shared the mastery of the midfield, scored their fourth, Dwight Yorke headed a fifth and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drove in the sixth immediately after coming on, before Ebbe Sand replied for Brondby in the last minute.
Desperate to make up ground lost by draws with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Manchester United relied heavily on wings and prayers. Lacking David Beckham and Nicky Butt through suspension, Alex Ferguson switched Ryan Giggs to the right flank and used Jesper Blomqvist on the left. But before long Giggs was doing damage through the middle.
While United did not set much store by their 6-0 defeat of Brondby in a pre-season friendly, they were aware of how vulnerable the opposition could be to quick counter-attacks. In theory, Manchester United needed to sit tight for 20 minutes to absorb Brondby's initial attacking bursts. In practice it did not work out quite that way.
Patience was never United's strong point and within two minutes they had taken the lead. Keane's pass from deep inside the United half found the 19-year-old defender, Wes Brown, playing in his first European match, overlapping strongly on the right. Brown's low cross surprised Mogens Krogh with its strength and Giggs was perfectly placed to volley United ahead.
The visitors could hardly have wished for a better start but having lost leads in their two previous Champions League games they needed to show discipline. Not that United's hunger was ever likely to be sated by just a single goal.
Brondby persisted with trying to turn United on the left as Thomas Lindrup hoped to exploit Brown's inexperience. In the middle however, Keane and Paul Scholes were standing firm with good cover.
On 28 minutes Dwight Yorke outwitted two Brondby players before sending Cole through to draw Kroth off his line and score United's third.
That seemed to be that - but 10 minutes before the interval United had a reminder of what might happen if they dropped their guard when Kim Daugaard drove the ball across the rain soaked pitch from 35 yards and Peter Schmeichel allowed the shot to slip underneath him at the near post.
That goal brought Brondby a glimmer of hope, and United a shiver of apprehension. As the second half began, Lindrup beat United's offside trap rather too easily for comfort but fortunately for the shocked defence there was nobody to meet his low cross.
In fact, with the game little more than an hour old United had doubled their score. Ten minutes after half-time Keane strode through the Brondby defence, exchanged passes with Giggs, and scored with a shot off the near post.
On the hour Phil Neville's deep centre from the left found Yorke rising to head in United's fifth and the evening had become yet another rout, except that this one was not quite so friendly.
After the fifth goal Giggs and Yorke were replaced by Jordi Cruyff and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Solskjaer joined in the fun with his first touch, meeting Yorke's pass to drive a 20-yard shot low inside the near post.
Brondby: M Krogh, B Jensen (Vragel 26), Colding, Nielsen, Rasmussen, Ravn, Bjur, Daugaard, Lindrup, Hansen, Sand. Subs Not Used: Andersen, Thygesen, Bagger, S Krogh, M Jensen, Olsen. Booked: Lindrup. Goals: Daugaard 35, Sand 90.
Manchester United: Schmeichel, Brown, P Neville, G Neville, Stam, Keane, Giggs (Cruyff 61), Scholes, Blomqvist, Cole (Solskjaer 61), Yorke. Subs Not Used: Berg, Van Der Gouw, Clegg, Curtis, Wilson. Goals: Giggs 2, 21, Cole 27, Keane 55, Yorke 60, Solskjaer 63.
Referee: V M Pereira (Portugal).
