Paul Scholes strike seals tough win for Man United

Besiktas 0 Manchester United 1. The Premier League champions returned from their first trip in this year's Champions League group stage with a well-deserved win thanks to a late header from veteran midfielder Paul Scholes.

United knew that they would encounter a traditional Turkish welcome from the passionate crowd at the Inonu stadium - officially the world's noisiest football stadium - and the fans of the Turkish Super League champions didn't disappoint, keeping up a barrage of chants and whistles until Scholes' intervention with just 13 minutes remaining.

Alex Ferguson's side started brightly, carrying on the form of their weekend defeat of Spurs, with Luiz Antonio Valencia a constant threat down the left. But Besiktas held firm at the back, and with Wayne Rooney deployed up front as a lone striker, the first half saw Man Utd dominate possession but have few real chances of merit on target.

There was little to trouble United's defence either, and the home side were only able to pepper Ben Foster's goal with long-range efforts that carried little promise. The most exciting thing to happen in the game was the rage that Rooney went into when he was substituted just after the hour mark for Michael Owen, as Ferguson looked to shuffle his pack.

The former Liverpool man worked well with Valencia, nipping in behind the defence seemingly at will but still without anything to show for their efforts. It took Scholes to poach a goal following a rebound from a fierce Nani shot to break the deadlock and silence the home crowd.

"It was a typical Paul Scholes goal," a satisfied Ferguson told the Guardian. "It's a good start for us because it's always good to get that first win out of the way and especially when it is away from home. The crowd here are tremendous and we needed to deal with that. We needed to play with good concentration because that's the loudest I have ever heard in a football ground." ·