Van Persie Celebrates
Manchester United's van Persie celebrates with Rooney a second goal against Olympiakos during their Champions League soccer match in Manchester
Manchester United's van Persie celebrates with Rooney a second goal against Olympiakos during their Champions League soccer match in Manchester

Manchester United reserved their berth in the quarter-inals of the Championship League, defeating Olympiakos by 3-0.

The star of the match was Robin Van Persie with a hat-trick, pushing Manchester to a comfortable win.

At the 23rd minute of first half, Van Persie looked to bring down a diagonal ball inside the box, but José Holebas barged the striker down, leading to penalty.

The Dutch striker took no mess and drilled the ball low into the right-hand corner of the goalkeeper Roberto Jiménez Gago, leading the team by 1-0.

The second goal came just before the half time when Ryan Giggs placed a wonderful pass forward for Wayne Rooney who with some dodges passed it to Persie to do the needful.

The third goal was scored at the second half in 52 minutes when Rooney passed the ball to Persie who swings it around the wall, leaving Roberto agape.

As the game neared to its end, Van Persie got injured and was stretchered outside the field. Speaking of his injury, United boss David Moyes said, "It doesn't look that bad, he's had a knock in and around the knee area, on the back of his knee. He was great, not many people score a hat-trick in the Champions League."

Moyes was in all praise for the team which is quite evident after such magnificence in the field. He said about Ryan Giggs, "It's incredible the amount of games he's played in the Champions League. He was fantastic, the passes he made for the two goals, his general football, he's a freak."

"Ryan is not going to go on forever so we have to find the new Ryan Giggs and use other players but we needed his experience tonight."

Talking about pressure in the upcoming matches, Moyes further added, "I'm not feeling any pressure from inside the club, it's coming from you people [the media], we know the job we have to do, it's probably bigger than what I thought when I first came to the club."

"There are stories of this player falling out, or that one falling out, but it's rubbish. People are looking for reasons why we are not doing well but it is only because we have not been playing well."

About his aim, Moyes stated, "I see myself for a long time. I'm not going to be able to change things immediately but the players have a big heart".

"People will probably think it's a turning point in people's careers but I didn't see it like that because the club don't see it like that. I see myself here for a long time."

"I think we know we have a lot of work to do but it's a great result and we want to stay in the competition. The other teams are good now and we look forward to the draw."