Manchester Utd 3 Debrecen 0: With three grinning Glazer brothers sitting side by side in the directors' box and Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane exchanging touchline smiles, Manchester United played a successful game of Happy Families last night.
They did not do too badly on the pitch either, this comprehensive, sporadically compelling win not only placating hitherto disgruntled fans but surely rendering the second leg of their Champions League qualifier in Hungary a mere formality.
A summer of skirmishes at Old Trafford has variously featured Ferguson v Keane, Ferdinand v Van Nistelrooy and Ferdinand v the wage structure, but none has been more ferocious than the battle for hearts and minds waged between disaffected fans and advocates of the Glazer family's takeover of the club.
While around 3,000 self-styled disenfranchised Reds marched noisily down Sir Matt Busby Way in prematch protest, Malcolm Glazer's three sons, Joel, Avram and Bryan, answered back with a slickly choreographed public relations coup Alastair Campbell would have applauded.
Entering the directors' box around 20 minutes before kick-off, the three brothers were immediately mobbed by 30 or 40 apparently adoring fans clamouring for autographs, gladly signed in front of conveniently positioned television cameras.
The resultant footage rather diminished the impact of the rebels' chants of "We can do this every week" as they engaged in minor scuffles with police on Chester Road.
Whether or not the Glazer acolytes were hand-picked, this show of apparent harmony must have reassured Ferguson, whose programme notes betrayed a certain unease at his need to appease owners as well as supporters.
"A lot has been said about the situation, with calls for my resignation in some quarters - and I have sympathy with the supporters - no one supported their cause more than me," wrote Ferguson.
"But when the club became a PLC somebody was going to buy it. Let's stand together and be a truly united football club. It's the only way to achieve success. So let's welcome Joel, Avram and Bryan to Manchester United and show them what's special about the club they bought."
It was not long before all attention was focused firmly on the football, Wayne Rooney announcing himself to the Hungarian champions by shooting low and unerringly beyond Norbert Csernyanszki after Debrecen merely succeeded in semi-thwarting a fluent United passing move.
Initiated by Keane, restored to the heart of midfield after evidently kissing and making up with his manager in the wake of their row in Portugal last month, it also featured Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney, whose short ball to Ruud van Nistelrooy was partially cleared by a defender only for the ball to rebound for his right foot to do the rest.
That was in the seventh minute, by which time United might even have been 2-0 up had Van Nistelrooy not strayed offside while moving to meet a clever Rooney reverse pass.
Yet it still indicated that Ferguson's new-found passion for the currently voguish 4-3-3 formation may yet pay rich dividends.
The system has had its critics but here it seemed to possess the twin benefits of affording United width while offering Rooney an improvisational licence.
Debrecen had beaten Hadjuk Split, the Croatian champions, 8-0 on aggregate in the previous round but they were proving surprisingly accommodating guests, appearing anxious not to spoil the the Glazer party.
Keane was forced to make a couple of timely deterring tackles on Tamas Sandor but for the most part Debrecen conjured few cohesive attacks.
Rooney got the second half off to a great start for the Glazers too when he created United's second for Van Nistelrooy.
If the precision of the Dutchman's low shot into the bottom corner from just inside the area seemed to serve as a reproach to those who suspected he had lost his scoring touch, Van Nistelrooy could yet be partnered by one Michael Owen in the coming months.
For all United's public rebuttal of interest in the Real Madrid striker, the feeling is that United could yet pounce.
That said, where would Owen fit into Ferguson's attacking trinity? That trio combined for the third, Van Nistelrooy playing in Rooney, whose pass cued up Ronaldo for a slick close-range finish.
Guardian Service
MAN UTD: Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O'Shea, Fletcher, Scholes, Keane (Park 67), Ronaldo (Smith 67), van Nistelrooy (Rossi 82), Rooney. Subs Not Used: Howard, Heinze, Miller, Richardson. Booked: Keane. Goals: Rooney 7, van Nistelrooy 49, Ronaldo 63.
DEBRECEN: Csernyanszki; Nikolov, Eger, Mate, Szatmari, Dombi (Boor 85), Sandor, Vukmir, Halmosi, Kerekes (Ibrahima Sidibe 52), Bogdanovic (Kiss 60). Subs Not Used: Tomic, Madar, Komlosi, Bernath. Booked: Mate, Vukmir, Nikolov.
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
