Giggs eyes place in 100 club

Four days after scoring his 100th league goal for Manchester United FC, Ryan Giggs will complete a century of appearances in the UEFA Champions League should he feature in his side's final Group F tie away against AS Roma on Wednesday.

'Great achievement'
Giggs opened the scoring in United's 4-1 rout of Derby County FC on Saturday, firing in the rebound after Stephen Bywater had parried Cristiano Ronaldo's shot, to join a select band of just eleven players to have scored 100 league goals for the English champions. "It's a great achievement and I'm pleased I eventually got there," said Giggs who made his debut for the club in March 1991.

Milestones
The milestones are coming thick and fast for Giggs who passed 500 league appearances for United last season. He is only 23 games short of Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 759 matches in all competitions for the club, and is also closing in on his 100th UEFA Champions League match. Giggs will become the second player from the United side that won the 1999 UEFA Champions League to reach mark that should he feature at the Stadio Olympico, following David Beckham who did so with Real Madrid CF last season. Gary Neville, on 98 appearances, and Paul Scholes on 97, are also nearing that milestone.

'Outstanding service'
"The service Ryan has given us, aside from the goals, has been outstanding," said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side laboured against Derby before Giggs broke the deadlock five minutes before the interval. A pair of goals from Carlos Tévez and a late Cristiano Ronaldo penalty made sure of victory as United moved to within a point of leaders Arsenal FC who lost 2-1 away to Middlesbrough FC on Sunday.

'Rewards'
"We weren't at our best simply because of the conditions, but we scored four at home and got three points, so I'm pleased with the result," Sir Alex added. "Hopefully that keeps the momentum going." United are guaranteed to finish top of Group F regardless of Wednesday's result in Rome.