The most telling kick of this match came not during the 90 minutes, but in the dressing room beforehand when Sir Alex Ferguson delivered a well-aimed boot up the backside of his Manchester United team.

His patience had finally run out after a run of poor performances, which culminated in their dismal display against Panathinaikos last week.

Ferguson challenged his players to win back his trust and prove to him that they are still capable of winning the Champions League.

To hammer home his point the United manager made five changes from the side that played so badly in Athens - with David Beckham the most high-profile of those casualties.

Dropped or rested - call it what you like - but the fact was that Beckham began the game on the bench along with Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Phil Neville and Wes Brown.

The England skipper could have few complaints and he has struggled to find any kind of form since the turn of the year.

In came Denis Irwin, Nicky Butt, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Luke Chadwick, who made his full European debut.

The challenge to these five and the other six starters was clear and Ferguson declared in his programme notes: "I want a performance in keeping with the standards we have set ourselves over the past few years."

United, still smarting no doubt from their well-warmed posteriors, answered Ferguson's rallying call as they finally booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals for the fifth successive year at the third time of asking.

They go through as runners-up in Group A after Valencia beat Panathinaikos to claim top spot.

United began at breakneck speed before tailing off and they almost scored inside three minutes.

Irwin's corner was nodded on by Mikael Silvestre and Solskjaer connected with a point-blank header, which was parried by Graz goalkeeper Kazimierz Sidorczuk.

That proved to be only a temporary reprieve for Graz and two minutes later United scored.

Solskjaer twisted and turned in the area and when he was blocked, Graz could only clear the ball as far as Butt, who drilled it home his fourth goal of the season from 20 yards out.

It was all too easy for United and on 20 minutes it was 2-0. Butt fed Solskjaer on the left and he pulled the ball back for Sheringham to tuck home his 20th goal of the season.

United were transformed from the side which had been extremely fortunate to escape with a point from Greece last week.

The tempo dropped after this lightning start and the focus switched to off the field as some fans in the lower East stand chanted their disapproval of heavy-handed stewards who were trying to make them sit down.

Sir Alex Ferguson had appealed to fans before kick-off and at half-time to sit down because of the threat from the local council to close down parts of Old Trafford because of persistent standing.

Many supporters feel the real solution is a return to terracing and they made their own plea to government minister Chris Smith when they unfurled a banner which read, 'Chris Smith listen: safe standing now'.

In the main the vast majority of fans heeded Ferguson's call, although a few in the lower East stand stood for part of the first half.

Back on the pitch, United pressed for a third and Chadwick found Solskjaer in the box and the Norwegian turned and unleashed a shot, which was well saved by Sidorczuk.

Just after half-time Stam went close when he forced a decent save from Sidorczuk with a header.

Finally Graz stirred and Mario Haas fired over before Gyorgy Korsos forced Fabien Barthez to make his first save.

A minute later the Frenchman was called into action again to keep out an Ivica Vastic free-kick.

Normal service was soon resumed at the other end and Sidorczuk pushed away a Paul Scholes piledriver before Keane hit the post.

The hard-working Solskjaer deserved a goal for his efforts and it almost came when he touched the ball past the onrushing Sidorczuk only for it to trickle wide.

It mattered little and in the 86th minute Keane scored United's third.

Chadwick broke down the left and centred to Sheringham, who flicked the ball on for Keane to ram home his third of the season.

FT:Man Utd 3 Sturm Graz 0

Teams:

Man Utd: Barthez, Irwin, Silvestre, Stam, Gary Neville, Chadwick, Scholes (Greening 74), Keane, Butt, Solskjaer, Sheringham.

Subs Not Used: Rachubka, Beckham, Cole, Phil Neville, Yorke, Brown.

Goals: Butt 5, Sheringham 20, Keane 87.

SK Sturm Graz: Sidorczuk, Neukirchner, Ibertsberger, Korsos, Schopp, Mahlich (Hlinka 46), Schupp (Martens 65), Fleurquin, Minavand (Szabics 46), Vastic, Haas.

Subs Not Used: Schicklgruber, Foda, Strafner, Koutsoupias.

Att: 66,404

Ref: V Ivanov (Russia).