Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a 29th birthday to remember as he scored twice to help Manchester United have the last word in their spat with Nantes.

Birthday-boy Solskjaer must have woken up on Tuesday morning and opened his presents expecting to start on the bench at Old Trafford.

The Norwegian has been the biggest casualty of Sir Alex Ferguson's 4-4-1-1 formation when Ruud van Nistelrooy has been operating as a lone striker.

Perhaps it was sentiment or just the realisation that United do play better when they line up 4-4-2, but Ferguson handed Solskjaer only his second Champions League start of the season.

The striker certainly made the most of his unexpected opportunity as he headed home twice to take his tally for the campaign to 17.

The crushing win also set the seal on United's war or words - and spittle - with Nantes.

Nantes' sporting director Robert Budzynski, still smarting over van Nistelrooy's spitting row with Sylvain Armand, had criticised United before the game and accused them of a lack of fair play.

Budzynski must be feeling rather silly now after United comprehensively beat his side without picking up a single booking.

The win leaves United within touching distance of a quarter-final place for the sixth successive season and they remain top of Group A with eight points.

It had all looked so different at the start and Nantes had come within centimetres of taking an early lead.

Centre-back Mauro Cetto crashed a header against the face of the crossbar and Fabien Barthez saved lone striker Pierre-Yves Andre's shot from the rebound.

United looked unsure at the back, just as they had done in Nantes last Wednesday.

The French champions opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Jean-Hughes Bilayi Ateba released Andre down the left and he centred for the on-rushing Frederic Da Rocha to score.

The Nantes fans had barely settled back into their seats when David Beckham equalised 90 seconds later with his 10th goal of the season and his fifth from a free-kick.

Nantes must have feared as much when they fouled van Nistelrooy around 25 yards out on the left in prime Beckham territory and sure enough the England skipper whipped the ball home, beating Mickael Landreau at his right-hand post.

United tightened their grip on the game when Solskjaer scored their second on 31 minutes.

Denis Irwin slipped van Nistelrooy in on the right and he crossed to Giggs at the back post, who nodded the ball on for Solskjaer to head home from just a couple of yards out.

The Barclaycard Premiership leaders doubled their lead in the 38th minute when they made it 3-1.

Beckham whipped in a free-kick from the right touchline and Mikael Silvestre crashed home a header, and only his second goal for United, into the roof of the net from close range.

To their credit, Nantes refused to lie down and Da Rocha fired a shot against Barthez's left-hand post.

Cetto then blundered to present Ryan Giggs with a great chance inside the area.

The Welshman's initial thrust through the heart of the Nantes defence had been stopped, but then Cetto slipped to let Giggs in and he shot against the post.

Nantes made two quick substitutions in an attempt to haul their way back into the game and Nicolas Savinaud and Marama Vahirua entered the fray.

Instead it was United who scored again in the 63rd minute as van Nistelrooy netted his 29th competitive goal on his 35th appearance for United.

Nestor Fabbri pulled the £19million striker down as he chased Solskjaer's flick-on and the Dutchman picked himself up to convert the penalty, just as he had done a week ago in stoppage-time in Nantes.

With three precious Champions League points in the bag, Diego Forlan came on to make another cameo appearance and Ronny Johnsen also entered the game to step up his comeback.

Forlan was quickly into the action and he crossed for Solskjaer to connect with a header which Landreau tipped over for a corner.

Landreau, though, was powerless to deny Solskjaer again in the 78th minute when he glanced home Beckham's free-kick for his second of the night and his 17th of the season.

Teams:

Man Utd: Barthez, Irwin, Blanc (Johnsen 68), Gary Neville, Silvestre, Beckham, Veron, Keane (Butt 75), Giggs, van Nistelrooy (Forlan 69), Solskjaer.

Subs Not Used: Carroll, Phil Neville, Scholes, Yorke.

Goals: Beckham 19, Solskjaer 31, Silvestre 38, van Nistelrooy 64 pen, Solskjaer 78.

Nantes: Landreau, Deroff, Cetto, Fabbri, Armand, Ateba (Vahirua 62), Djemba-Djemba (Savinaud 57), Berson, Ziani (Quint 78), Da Rocha, Andre.

Subs Not Used: Grondin, Moldovan, Ahamada, Devineau.

Booked: Berson.

Goals: Da Rocha 17.

Att: 66,492

Ref: Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (La Felguera).