The Times:
LIFE after Beckham and Veron? You bet there is. The old king and great pretender may be gone, but there was a new enthronement at Old Trafford yesterday, when Ryan Giggs scored twice, only to be upstaged by a thrilling, 30-minute cameo from Cristiano Ronaldo, who took to the Theatre of Dreams as if to the manor born.
For once, all the hype and hullaballoo might just be justified. At more than £12m from Sporting Lisbon, this precocious 18-year-old with the mesmeric feet is destined to give a few defenders twisted blood, as they used to say of the No 7 par excellence, George Best. As one seasoned observer in the press box put it: “I haven’t seen anything like that since Giggs started.”
The teenager’s temperament delighted Ferguson almost as much as his twinkle-toed talent. “A really pleasing thing was that when there was a bad foul on him, he just jumped up and got on with it.”
After the comings and goings of the summer, there was still a familiar look to United’s starting line-up, with Tim Howard, the American goalkeeper, the only new face. Of the other signings, Kleberson arrived from Brazil too late to be considered and Ronaldo and Eric Djemba-Djemba started on the bench. Fabien Barthez didn’t even get that far.
Bolton worked hard in search of equality, Henrik Pedersen threatening twice either side of half-time, but the introduction of Ronaldo transformed the game. Elevated to a different plane by the most invigorating of substitutions, United were not to be denied, and two minutes later Ronaldo was creatively involved in the build-up that led to Jaaskelainen spilling a shot from van Nistelrooy, and Giggs plundering his second from tap-in range. Bolton were beaten now and knew it, and Scholes rounded the keeper expertly to add the third.
Van Nistelrooy, from an inviting cross from Ronaldo — who else? — should have made it four before finally doing so with an emphatic finish, three minutes from time.
Independent:
David who? Juan Seba quien? Fabien qui? The stars of old may not yet be forgotten but, judging by yesterday's demonstration by the new-look Red Devils and their Portuguese midfielder Ronaldo in particular, the shadows of the departed will not be looming over Old Trafford for too long.
Fresh season, same old fearsome boss. Sir Alex has not been afraid to wield the axe this summer, selling two of his most expensive assets, David Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron, while relegating his multi-garlanded goalkeeper to the reserves. Fabien Barthez's absence aside, pre-match thoughts were reserved for the memory of Jimmy Davis, one of Manchester United's rising young stars, who was killed in a car crash in the early hours of last Saturday. The official unveiling of the Brazilian World Cup winner Kleberson, who signed his five-year contract in front of 67,000 fans, was a helpful distraction.
United were playing the neater football, but Bolton were producing chances on the break. Their best opportunity of the first half fell to Kevin Davies, but he was leaning back when lining up a shot and the ball went sailing over the bar.
Then, with 35 minutes gone, came the moment the crowd had been waiting for. Ryan Giggs beat Scholes to the ball and then promptly dispatched an unstoppable left-foot curler into Jaaskelainen's net.
The second half was ticking along when the noise suddenly amplified around Old Trafford. "There's only one Ronaldo," the home faithful chanted when the 18-year-old Portuguese starlet emerged from the bench. The song was as much a welcome to the most expensive teenager in British football history, as a cry of defiance to Ronaldinho, the Brazilian who spurned United's summer advances in favour of Barcelona.
Bolton were run ragged by Ronaldo, as he burst to the by-line and delivered an inch-perfect cross for Van Nistelrooy at the far post. The Dutchman's volley was parried by Jaaskelainen, but Giggs was on hand to tap in the rebound for his second of the day. Not quite an assist for Ronaldo, but close.
It was now party time at Old Trafford, as another of the new boys, midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba, was brought on for a taste of the action. The Cameroon international's home debut was no more than five minutes old when Scholes pounced on some lacklustre Bolton defending, before rounding the keeper and slotting home for United's third. Job done for the champions; and point made by their manager.
Grauniad:
Ryan Giggs's bid to be the new David Beckham lasted precisely an hour. The Welshman's clean strike from a 30-yard free-kick looked like being the only talking point of a drab opening match until Sir Alex Ferguson introduced 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo to enliven proceedings.
The coltish Portugal player certainly did that. Manchester United blew away Bolton Wanderers with three goals in the last half-hour and could have had more. No one was talking about Beckham at the end of the match and not even a second goal from Giggs could promote him back to top billing.
The only topic of conversation was a sensational debut by a player who can do precisely what Beckham could not - ghost insolently past defenders and produce the unexpected - and at £12.5 million cost half of what United received from Real Madrid for the England captain.
'It was a marvellous debut,' Sir Alex Ferguson purred. 'I thought the pace was too slow in the first half and I knew Cristiano would add penetration.' Even Sam Allardyce could not find anything grudging to say. 'He was different class, he looks a very exciting player and his introduction was crucial,' the Bolton manager said.
'I felt it was time to change our team around,' Ferguson had explained beforehand, evidently feeling the need to justify his summer clearout. 'David [Beckham] contributed hugely to our success and has a place in the history of the club that will last for ever, but we must never stand still. Seba [Veron] played some marvellous games in European competition, but I think he found the Premiership difficult.'
Possibly as bored as everyone else in the second half, Ferguson flicked a switch and illuminated Old Trafford. Bolton sent on Youri Djorkaeff, complete with facemask protecting a fractured cheekbone, but United topped that by introducing their new capture from Sporting Lisbon. 'There's only one Ronaldo,' sang the same crowd responsible for giving a standing ovation to some Real Madrid player last season.
Once Eric Djemba-Djemba began warming up, there was definitely more interest in the dugout area than the increasingly disjointed event on the pitch. The Cameroon midfielder duly came on for Solskjaer, a bold change by Ferguson with only one goal in the match, and was immediately eclipsed by events on the left flank, where Ronaldo was wasting no time in winning over his new public.
United are clearly not standing still, and Kleberson is still to come
Telegraph:
The king is dead. Long live the king. David Beckham may have departed Old Trafford but he will no doubt be delighted to hear that the appearance of his old No 7 shirt brought the biggest cheer of the day.
This time, it was worn on the back of new Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who was so excited at his reception that he immediately set single-handedly about Bolton, winning a penalty which Ruud van Nistelrooy missed and starting the move that led to United's second goal.
You need courage and confidence to wear the United No 7 after Beckham and a few other famous wearers of that shirt, notably George Best and Eric Cantona. And Ronaldo, pacy and tricky, looks like being another who will quickly have the fans eating out of his hand.
Within minutes of his arrival on the pitch, United fans so liked what they saw that they even had the gall to sing: "There's only one Ronaldo." Surely some mistake there?
In the end, this was a routine win for United, achieved at a canter. But it was a different story early on as they dawdled out of the stalls.
United's back four were especially generous and Van Nistelrooy, who is not unknown for taking tumbles from phantom tackles, went down three times not in search of penalties but through either a lack of balance, dodgy studs or a combination of both.
We finally caught sight of the real United, however, when Bruno N'Gotty brought down Van Nistelrooy just outside the penalty area nine minutes from half-time. It would have been the perfect range for that bloke United sold to Real Madrid but, in his absence, Ryan Giggs stepped forward to take the free-kick and curled it in off a post. He then ran halfway to Salford to celebrate.
The second goal followed when Giggs tapped in from close range after a nice move started by Ronaldo. And the third was not far behind, Scholes skipping through to open his account.
All that was left was for Diego Forlan to make his customary entrance and steal some of the attention from Ronaldo by making a final goal for Van Nistelrooy.
The champions are up and running.