Guardian:
‘An otherwise profitable night for Manchester United, and Malcolm Glazer's accountants in particular, was tempered by an injury to Gary Neville that will also have ramifications for Sven-Goran Eriksson.
‘Ferguson will be troubled to lose such a sturdy defender, although he can console himself with the manner of this victory, one that will net the Glazer regime a minimum £10m. United have yet to concede a goal since Edwin van der Sar's arrival and this was the type of assured display, capped by two fine goals from Gabriel Heinze and a splendid strike from Kieran Richardson.
‘With a 3-0 advantage from the first leg, there was never any serious danger of Ferguson's players relinquishing their hold on the tie but the desire to beat English opponents had sufficiently pumped up Debrecen to make this a potentially awkward visit.
‘The toffee-pudding surface occasionally hampered United's passing game but there were also moments when they routinely emphasised the gulf in class between the two sides.
‘Heinze, in particular, showed why Paris St-Germain's supporters have just voted him their best defender of all time, alternating between spraying 60-yard passes out to the right flank and making a series of telling interceptions.’
Independent:
‘Four wins, four clean sheets and a place in today's draw for the group phase of the Champions' League. Manchester United's bright start gathered momentum last night when two goals by Gabriel Heinze helped them repeat the first-leg defeat of Debrecen, though the glad tidings were tempered by a spate of injuries.
‘United, showing five changes from Saturday's defeat of Aston Villa, survived a volatile opening to put the tie beyond reach midway through the first half. After just six minutes, Tamas Sandor hooked the ball over the bar as it fell to him when United struggled to clear a corner. As United retaliated, Neville fell clutching his thigh after delivering a cross and was driven off - across the pitch - in what was essentially a golf cart. The humour of the situation was doubtless lost on Sir Alex Ferguson, who would have recalled that the last time United played at this venue, Wes Brown suffered a broken ankle.
‘Richardson came on for Neville, the new England midfielder filling in at left-back. Brown switched to the right and Heinze to central defence. It may have concerned Ferguson that Rio Ferdinand thus became the only member of his back four to have played regularly this season, but he was soon rising from his plastic chair to acclaim the goal which left Debrecen needing an implausible, nay impossible, 5-1 victory.’
Times:
‘From the moment he was trapped in the toilet during some mid-air turbulence on the outward flight, taking in a confrontation with an angry supporter at Ferihegy airport, this never looked like being a straightforward trip for Sir Alex Ferguson. Progression to the group stage of the Champions League was routine enough, as Gabriel Heinze extended Manchester United’s first-leg advantage with two goals, but victory came at a significant cost with the loss of Gary Neville to a serious looking groin injury only ten minutes into the game.
‘Unsurprisingly, Ferguson blamed Neville’s injury on a boggy pitch that had so concerned him on Tuesday night that he demanded their training session be moved to a ground nearby. “The pitch was very slippy and soft on top and I think it was down to that,” the manager said. “Obviously Gary’s experience is vital for us because he has been such an important player for us down the years, but I think we have got adequate cover there, with people like Wes Brown, John O’Shea and young Phil Bardsley, so I’m not overly concerned.”’
Telegraph:
‘United's 3-0 first-leg victory against the Hungarian champions two weeks ago as good as rendered this game a dead rubber, allowing Sir Alex Ferguson the luxury of handing first starts of the season to Heinze, Alan Smith, Wes Brown and Ryan Giggs and leaving the rested captain, Roy Keane, in Manchester.
‘The Hungarian champions clearly felt they still had a chance of securing a result that would send shockwaves throughout world football judging by their start. Debrecen carved out two clear chances inside the opening 15 minutes which, had they been taken, would have left United facing a much more complicated night than anticipated.
‘Fortunately for United, a game that was threatening to become a testing encounter had the sting taken out of it on 20 minutes when Heinze opened the scoring after being left unmarked at the far post to head Paul Scholes' corner past goalkeeper Norbert Csernyanszki.’