With not so much a battle as a mild swat, Manchester United contemptuously dismissed in their all-British encounter against Celtic with a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
Two suspiciously offside-looking goals from Dimitar Berbatov - taking his Champions League tally to four - and a customary strike from Wayne Rooney, who now has nine in seven games for club and country, paid scant justice to United's total dominance.
Berba delight at 'dodgy double'
Celtic did not even make a fight of it, allowing Sir Alex Ferguson to gain the personal satisfaction of avenging a defeat at Parkhead on the last meeting between the teams two years ago.
Ferguson is such a towering Scottish presence in the United dugout, in some ways the hosts were as tartan as their visitors.
But the Glasgow Ferguson grew up in is not the same one Celtic inhabit, just as the Hoops would offer no association with the Rangers fans whose reputation was so badly tarnished in this city last May.
There was no repeat of those ugly scenes as the visiting fans made their presence felt, with the Hoops needing all the support available as United laid siege to their goal.
Ferguson abandoned a plan to leave out Cristiano Ronaldo, so the Portugal winger was an obvious attacking outlet, as was in-form Rooney.
Ronaldo drove an angled effort over at the end of a slick six-man move that left Celtic gasping, then Rooney's bicycle kick appeared goalbound until it struck Glenn Loovens.
Strachan's men clung on grimly and almost prospered as Gary Caldwell let fly from 20 yards, forcing Edwin van der Sar into a fingertip save.
It was a rare moment of attacking optimism for Celtic, who were comprehensively outplayed and penned in their own half for long stretches.
Only two years ago, the same teams fought out a couple of pulsating duels. Since then, one of them has spent around £100million and gone on to lift the Champions League. An away win would do for the other, who have now lost 17 out of 18 games on their travels among Europe's elite.
Ronaldo turned in anguish as he slammed another opportunity into the side-netting. But, just as their profligacy was starting to cause anxiety, United found the net.
The goal came from a corner that Nani floated to the near post. At the second attempt, John O'Shea forced it on, and Berbatov, with his back to goal, flicked it past Artur Boruc.
The Bulgarian was almost delirious by his own understated standards. Celtic were not, as Berbatov should have been flagged offside.
Still, it was the least United's dominance deserved and Anderson and Nani both had shooting opportunities either side of a Rooney thunderbolt that thudded into Boruc's chest as United tried to press home their advantage.
Amazingly though, Celtic might have been level at the break when O'Shea turned Shunsuke Nakamura's free-kick towards his own goal. Thankfully for the Irishman, Van der Sar was alive to the danger.
The absence of Rio Ferdinand with a groin strain was having a negligible impact on proceedings, although the contest was so one-sided, United lacked the edge needed to bring them towards top gear.
Boyhood Celtic fan Darren Fletcher blazed over after he had manoeuvred himself into an excellent position so, amazingly, United were still only one up at the break.
The status quo lasted just six second-half minutes before Berbatov tapped home his second, the striker profiting from a blistering Ronaldo free-kick Boruc could not hold.
Yet again, it seemed Berbatov was offside, which just made it more ironic the referee's assistant, having missed it, should raise his flag against Rooney when the England man raced onto Ronaldo's through ball and beat Boruc as TV replays confirmed the run had been perfectly timed.
Rooney scooped a shot over before Berbatov left to a standing ovation, replaced by Carlos Tevez, in itself an indication of the widely differing standards that now exist either side of Hadrian's Wall.
In his more rampaging moods, Rooney looks as though he could knock down a few walls and after another near miss, stroked home a deserved goal 15 minutes from time.
It took his personal tally to nine in seven games and left Celtic facing a tough fight to claim a UEFA Cup berth as United continued their relentless march towards becoming the first side to retain this competition since the league format was launched in 1992.
Berba delight at 'dodgy double'Dimitar Berbatov was delighted with his dubious double as Manchester United recorded a 3-0 Champions League victory over Celtic at Old Trafford. Berbatov scored twice and Wayne Rooney had one disallowed before continuing his prolific form with the third.Both of Berbatov's close-range efforts looked marginally offside but the Bulgarian said: "It's not my decision to make, I am trying to score, it's for the referee and he said no offside."It was great for me to score again here and importantly we won the game."Asked if he felt he was improving as a player since his move from Tottenham, Berbatov added on ITV1: "I will improve, that's why I'm here at the biggest club and everything is working right at the moment."You must be always 100% in the game and that's what I'm doing, in the past I lacked that in some games."United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was also delighted with Berbatov's performance, adding: "It was fantastic, a marvellous performance again."He is bringing that composure to the final third of the field. Hopefully the c****ination is developing with not only Wayne but also Carlos (Tevez), but he had a little hip injury tonight so we took him off."Of the game, Ferguson said: ''I was really pleased with the performance.''We had all the momentum and the loss of Giorgios Samaras and Jan Venegoor of Hesselink was a blow for Celtic. It was a bad night for them.''I just felt we were always on the attack. The speed of our play was very good and we have to think a result in Glasgow will get us through.''But Celtic have a very good record up there, so it will be a difficult game.''
South Africa win series against Australia
