MANCHESTER UNITED sent some of Europe's most fervent fans home early here last night and began at last to look part of the modern European football community. Naivety gave way to nous as Alex Ferguson's team survived some early scares to see off Fenerbahce in some comfort.
Playing with composure and intelligence, though without the injured Ryan Giggs, - they scored twice, through David Beckham and Eric Cantona, early in the second half and played out the rest of the match with few qualms. By the final whistle the stadium was half-empty, a fitting testament to United's performance.
Manchester United's first away win in eight European matches has left them well placed to qualify for the quarter-finals. Juventus having drawn 1-1 with Rapid Vienna, Group C is now dominated by English and Italian interests.
If Fenerbahce are beaten at Old Trafford in a fortnight's time, and the Champions Cup holders defeat Rapid Vienna in Turin, then United's home game against Juventus on November 20th will decide not so much who goes through but who plays whom in the last eight for a place in the last four.
Last night Ferguson's players kept faith with his insistence that they were not such innocents abroad as the initial 1-0 defeat by Juventus in the Stadio delle Alpi had suggested. So it proved.
For a brief period early in the match Jay Jay Okocha, the clever, Nigerian midfielder Fenerbahce, who signed from Eintracht Frankfurt during the summer, threatened to unravel United's defence. But David May and Gary Pallister kept their nerve, Ronny Johnsen and Nicky Butt increasingly denied Okocha the space he craved, and when Manchester United switched to the attack Fenerbahce's proved the more square and vulnerable of the two.
While the earlier 2-0 victory over an impoverished Rapid Vienna side at Old Trafford had done something to purge United's memories of Turin, they still needed last night's performance. Practically everything about it was better.
Cantona's influence grew all the time, there was less inclination to give the ball away than there had been in Turin, and when possession was lost the team as a whole tried much more intelligently to win it back. Pallister, doubtful doubtful before the match with a back injury, recovered from a blow to the chest in the first half to play with much of his old strength and authority.
Quite apart from anything else Manchester United have finally laid their Turkish bogey to rest, two draws with Galatasaray having marked their earlier undistinguished contributions to this tournament.
Last night they even managed to silence the Turkish Bruce Forsyth who throughout the first half offered booming encouragement to the home team. In fact the Spanish referee dealt with this aggravation.
Routine warnings to stay off the streets and avoid balconies if Fenerbahce won, owing, as the Turkish Daily News put it, to "the regrettable habit of discharging firearms into the air" did not alter the fact that this was a game Manchester United could not afford to lose.
Rustu kept out a close-range shot from Jordi Cruyff just before the half-hour, but the moment proved portentous. Ten minutes into the second half United took the lead; four minutes later they scored again, had won the ball in midfield an incisive diagonal through pass from Cantona sent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer through with David Beckham running free to his right. The Norwegian drew what remained of the defence towards him, then slipped the ball to Beckham, who drove it clinically past Rustu from a narrow angle.
Manchester United's second was initiated by Solskjaer's backheel to Cruyff, who appeared behind the defence near the left-hand byline and, with the defence spreadeagled, crossed short and low for Cantona to turn the ball into the net.
