He just goes on and on.
Last night he rolled back the years once more to pop up
with a goal and get the Reds' Champions League challenge off to a
winning start.
Scholes, 34, tends not to get that far forward any
more. Gone are the days when he bombed late into the box to thunder
drives into the back of the net week-in, week-out.
The former England star now tends to sit deeper and
spread the play around. But he still shows why he has earned so
many plaudits down the years from the greats of the game.
This is the man that French legend Zinedine Zidane once
called "undoubtedly the best midfielder of his
generation".
He maintains his place in the team with the other
skills at his disposal. Vision, guile, sublime touch and an almost
unique awareness of the game going on around him.
After watching his side huff and puff against Besiktas
last night, Scholes decided to take matters into his own
hands.
He pounced in the 76th minute just as it looked like a
poor game was petering out into a stalemate.
Winger Nani had a stinging shot palmed back out by
goalkeeper Hakan Arikan. But Scholes was there, bang on cue, to
send a looping header over the stranded keeper and in off the far
post.
It was his first goal in the competition since his
winner at Old Trafford in the 2007-08 semi-final second-leg against
Barcelona. The winner last night underlines what a servant Scholes
has been for this club.
He has earned nine league titles, three FA Cups and the
one Champions League crown, after cruelly missing the 1999 final
through suspension.
Last night he made an incredible 109th appearance in
the Champions League and marked it with his 21st goal.
That puts him fifth on the all-time appearance charts
in Europe's premier competition.
Ben Foster 7
Gary Neville 6
Jonny Evans 7
Nemanja Vidic 7 - Booked
Patrice Evra 7
Antonio Valencia 5
MIchael Carrick 5
Paul Scholes 8 - STAR MAN
Anderson 6
Nani 7
Wayne Rooney 7
Subs: Michael Owen (for Rooney)
5, Dimitar Berbatov (for Carrick)
5, Park Ji Sung (for Valencia)
5
Subs not used: Kuszczak, Brown, Fabio
Da Silva, Gibson.
