Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy were among the big names pilloried for their abject performances against City but both found the net tonight as the Red Devils advanced to the last 16 as Group F winners.

While Veron’s credentials as a Premiership performer are open to some considerable question, his displays in Europe are beyond reproach and three minutes before the interval he volleyed home a magical effort from van Nistelrooy’s lay-off.

The Argentine then turned provider midway through the second half, threading a 25-yard pass through the Leverkusen defence to van Nistelrooy, who beat Jorg Butt with ease.

However, the joyous thoughts were tempered by worry at the end as, with United’s three substitutes all having been used, Rio Ferdinand limped off with what looked like a thigh strain, leaving the home side to play out the last five minutes with 10 men.

And there may be more bad news for United as Beckham was reported to have picked up a rib injury.

Any thoughts the United squad may have had that Ferguson had drawn a line under Saturday’s disaster after refusing to discuss the game at his pre-match press conference were quickly dispelled once they digested his programme notes.

Dismal, horrendous, unacceptable and stupid were the words which littered a three-paragraph assessment of a tortuous afternoon, which ended with the stark message: “I don’t honestly know what was going through the minds of the players but I left them in no doubt what was going through mine. I shall be looking for signs that the message has been taken on board.”

The Neville household received a pretty clear signal anyway, Gary and Phil dumped to the bench for their part in the Maine Road massacre.

Out went Fabien Barthez and goalscorer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer too, with Quinton Fortune taking on a central midfield role, skipper David Beckham returning from suspension on the right and John O’Shea handed the vacant right-back slot.

The axeman’s victims could certainly claim they had received harsh treatment given the inadequacies of some of their team-mates, including Veron, whose poor contribution to tonight’s effort was starting to provoke discontent in the stands until his latest wonder goal.

Van Nistelrooy is another player whose below-par performances have been attracting unwanted attention, although the statistics don’t bear out the criticism.

He might look to be struggling without a regular strike partner but tonight’s clinical finish took him into double figures for a season which saw him ruled out for a month with a hamstring injury.

The Dutchman was certainly at the centre of the action early on this evening, having one shot beaten away by Leverkusen keeper Jorg Butt, mis-kicking another volley, glancing a Ryan Giggs cross wide and, in between, having Thomas Kleine yellow-carded for a blatant foul.

However, after that early pressure, United almost fell for the sucker punch.

Even with a side weakened by the absence of five key men, Leverkusen can still spot an opportunity and the central defensive frailties which erupted so badly at the weekend were exposed again as Thomas Brdaric sprang clear.

Rio Ferdinand looked to tug the Leverkusen man back as he advanced into the box but Spanish keeper Ricardo did the job properly, sending Brdaric flying as he slid out to try and gather.

He might be Barthez’s replacement but it was the same kind of eccentricity the Frenchman would show and earned Ricardo a yellow card.

If United thought that was some kind of good fortune, their relief was completed when Jan Simak strode up and smashed his penalty into the second tier of the Stretford End.

It was the cue for an avalanche of United attacks, with Beckham and Ryan Giggs posing a particular threat from their wide positions. It didn’t bring an immediate reward though, both Giggs and Scholes going perilously close before Veron eventually broke the deadlock.

Van Nistelrooy was robbed by Zoltan Sebescen as he tried to latch onto another Giggs cross at the start of the second period, then Laurent Blanc glanced wide from a Beckham curler.

The Dutchman wasn’t kept off the scoresheet for long though and had another chalked off a minute later when he was flagged offside after tapping home from a Giggs cross-shot.

Veron nearly had a third but was denied by Butt who brilliantly saved his diving header. It all looked quite good, then Ferdinand limped off.