Ferguson all smiles in the end

Winning start
A winning start to Manchester United FC's UEFA Champions League campaign, five goals including a long-awaited first strike for Diego Forlán, a chance to give new goalkeeper Ricardo a run-out, no major injury concerns and the news that Group F rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who knocked United out in last year's semi-finals, were beaten 6-2 by Olympiakos Pireaus FC, although that may serve to open up the group.

'Terrific attacking'
"I think it was a good football match and some of our attacking play was terrific," said the United manager. "I am pleased with that and I am pleased that our goalscorers have scored goals. It is a good start."

Shock goal
United roared back into the game after the shock of conceding on just eight minutes from Yaniv Katan's goal. They hit back through Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Juan Sebastián Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooij before Rafi Cohen reduced the deficit for Maccabi. Forlán then received the biggest cheer of the night, by hitting the final goal from the penalty spot. It was no more than the Uruguayan deserved for his willingness to keep trying despite numerous disappointments.

First goal
The United coach made special mention of Forlán's first goal for the 1999 Champions League winners, after playing the last 35 minutes as a substitute. "Diego deserved a goal," Sir Alex said. "His movement and work-rate is first class. Hopefully that will settle him down and he will go on to score lots of goals."

Challenging again
Forlán came on as a substitute for Giggs, while Van Nistelrooij, who set himself on the way to challenging for the top scorer prize he took last season with his goal, suffered a kick in the calf and went off later. Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was also replaced in the second half, but only to give a debut to recent arrival Ricardo. Phil Neville was a key man in midfield throughout and he also earned particular praise from his manager.

Sea of green
More than 4,000 Israeli fans made the trip and they made their presence known in a sea of green despite being outnumbered in a crowd of 63,439. Israel finally had a team in the Champions League and its first representatives certainly made a good first impression.

Historic performance
Defender Alon Harazi said: "We managed to embarass a great side like Manchester United even for a short while and scoring two goals at this stadium is something which will go down in the club's history books."

Not despondent
Itzhak Shum, the Maccabi coach, was not too despondent, and believed that his side had every chance against Olympiakos and Leverkusen. "We were without of two of our best players [Yakubu Ayegbini and Raimondas Zutautas] but they will play in the next game," he said. "I believe we have a chance and we will try to take points from these teams. I believe Manchester United are the best team in the group."