Comfortable wins for top clubs in Champions League

Hamburg, Oct 22 (DPA) Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Arsenal all celebrated comfortable wins to move closer to qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League while Juventus overcame Real Madrid to go top of their group.

A goal in either half from Dimatar Berbatov as well as a Wayne Rooney strike 14 minutes from time secured a fully deserved 3-0 win for defending champions United against Scottish champions Celtic at Old Trafford, Tuesday.

'It was a marvellous performance by Berbatov again. He brought composure to the final third of the field again,' said United coach Alex Ferguson.

The victory saw Ferguson's side move on to seven points from three games in Group E, level with Villarreal, who suffered an early fright before running out easy 6-3 winners against Aalborg.

Marek Saganowski gave the Danish side the lead but two goals in three minutes from Giuseppe Rossi and Joan Capdevila put Villarreal in front.

Thomas Enevoldsen levelled matters once more for the Danes, but a hat-trick for Joseba Llorente and another from Robert Pires, countered only by a goal from Andreas Johansson, ensured a comfortable win.

Bayern Munich maintained top spot in Group F thanks to a 3-0 victory over Italian side Fiorentina.

Miroslav Klose fired the home side in front after four minutes and German international team mate Bastian Schweinsteiger made it 2-0 in the 25th minute. Ze Roberto completed the scoring for the German champions in the last minute, weaving his way through the visitors' defence before firing home.

The win was a relief for Juergen Klinsmann, who has come under fire for Bayern's slow start to the Bundesliga in his first season in charge.

'The win was important for us and gives us a push for the coming weeks. We want to continue in this way,' he said. 'We are in good form and I am especially happy for Miro Klose.'

Olympique Lyon sit second in the group on five points after two goals apiece from Karim Benzema and Fred helped the French side come from two goals down away to Steau Bucharest to eventually win 5-3.

Arsenal eased to a 5-2 win over Fenerbahce to remain top of Group G, two clear of Dynamo Kiev, who beat Porto 1-0 thanks to a free-kick from Olexander Aliev.

Cesc Fabregas had a hand in Arsenal's opening two goals as he first put Emmanuel Adebayor through and then Theo Walcott to put the visitors into a comfortable two-goal lead.

A Mikael Silvestre own goal briefly gave Fenerbahce hope but further efforts from Abou Diaby and Alex Song made it 4-1 for Arsenal. Daniel Guiza reduced the deficit to two for the Turks but Aaron Ramsey completed the rout for Arsene Wenger's side.

Juventus leapfrogged Real Madrid at the top of Group H thanks to a 2-1 victory over the Spanish giants in Turin.

Alessandro Del Piero gave Juventus an early lead against Real, netting from 25 metres. Amauri doubled the Serie A side's advantage when his header went in off the post after 49 minutes but a Ruud van Nistelrooy header for Real midway the second half reduced the deficit at the Stadio Olimpico to 2-1.

The win puts Juve on seven points, one clear of Real and five ahead of Belarussian club BATE Borisov. Zenit St Peterburg remain bottom of the group with a single point after they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to the Belarussians.

Pavel Nekhaychik put the Belarussians in front after 52 minutes but Dick Advocaat's side equalised through Fatih Tekke 10 minutes from time.