Batistuta strikes out United

Nov 24: Goals in either half from Gabrial Batistuta and Abel Balbo handed Fiorentina a deserved 2-0 win over Manchester United in their C...

Nov 24: Goals in either half from Gabrial Batistuta and Abel Balbo handed Fiorentina a deserved 2-0 win over Manchester United in their Champions League Group B to leave United8217;s European crown sitting uneasily after an uninspired showing in Florence.

Batistuta, author of a brilliant goal which sank Arsenal at Wembley in the first phase, pulled out another stunning strike after Roy Keane played an aimless pass straight into the Argentine8217;s path.

Batistuta8217;s finish was typically lethal as he swept a precision right-foot effort past United keeper Mark Bosnich in the 24th minute.

United were looking a poor imitation of the side which stormed Europe last season and lifted a treble of Champions Cup, English Premiership and FA Cup as they carved out precious few chances 8212; a David Beckham freekick pushed out by Toldo about the closest they came two minutes before the break.

Incredibly, it was a second defensive blunder which handed Fiorentina their second goal after 52 minutes.

United8217;s Norwegian defender Henning Berg saw an attempted clearance bounce off Batistuta, who seized on the chance to race to the byline and whip over a cross from the left which Abel Balbo smacked home first time past Bosnich8217;s despairing dive.

Keane8217;s evening went from bad to worse when he was booked midway through the second half for dissent.

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But Batistuta too lost his composure as the excitement mounted in the closing stages, picking up a yellow card which means he will be suspended for Fiorentina8217;s next match against Bordeaux.

In the other match in the group, Valencia, gardually working their way up the Spanish league after a poor start, collected three vital points by beating French league champions Bordeaux 3-0 8212; all the goals coming in the second period.

After a dull first half of few clearcut chances, the Spaniards broke the deadlock with a superb left-foot drive on the hour from Javier Farinos which was followed within eight minutes by a close-range clincher from Romanian striker Adrian Ilie.

Kily Gonzalez notched the third in the final seconds for Valencia as Bordeaux, whose league form in recent weeks has been appalling, flopped badly on the European stage.

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Hertha Berlin, struggling badly in the German Bundesliga, opened their second phase group A campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Barcelona, tipped by many as Manchester United8217;s successors as continental Kings come next May.

The match was played in near farcical misty and wintry conditions, although Russian referee Nikolai Levnikov elected the match should go ahead at the Olympia Stadion even if some of the 65,000 crowd would have been straining to see the action.

Barcelona were missing injured Brazilian playmaker Rivaldo but were happy to contain the Germans to get an away point on the board.

Barcelona went ahead in the 14th minute when Luis Enrique nodded them in front following a Luis Figo corner headed on by Patrick Kluivert.

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Kai Michalke levelled with a fine drive in the 33rd minute to end a 390-minute drought for the Germans in all matches.

In the other Group A encounter, Porto won 2-0 at Sparta Prague in the Czech Capital. Ljubinko Drulovic scored the opener 13 minutes from time. Brazilian hitman Mario Jardel struck the killer second six minutes from time.