A rare Paul Scholes header, thirteen minutes from time, gave an under-strength Manchester United the three points from their opening Group B game in Istanbul.

Scholes was on-hand to nod the ball in off the post after Besiktas keeper Hakan Arikan parried Nani’s powerful drive into his path.

The win may have been something of a bonus as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team selection and substitutions suggested that the weekend’s Premier League fixture against their city rivals was a higher priority, a reversal of trends in recent years.

There were five changes from Saturday’s victory at White Hart Lane.

And Wayne Rooney was replaced on 64 minutes, much to his visible annoyance as he slammed one of his boots to the ground on returning to the dug-out.

The Turkish outfit have made a poor start to their domestic season and this was betrayed by their defensive outlook during the game and the English champions were restricted to few first-half chances, the two best falling to Antonio Valencia.

The Ecuadorian midfielder forced a good save from Arikan in the 16^th minute and was inches away from a Rooney cross ten minutes later.

Serdar Ozkan had a shot from just outside the penalty area deflected narrowly over by Johnny Evans midway through the half.

That apart, the biggest problem for the visitors was a green laser pen reportedly directed from the exceptionally noisy and passionate home support, officially the loudest in the world but clearly not always the most intelligent.

Besiktas dominated second-half possession but rarely threatened until forced to push for an equaliser in the closing stages, when Patrice Evra made an athletic block to deny Filip Holosko on 83 minutes.

After the match, Ferguson played down Rooney’s dissent at his withdrawal, saying that, as a lone striker, he was always going to come off at that stage of the game.