EL-HADJI Diouf, one of three Wanderers players involved on the night, struck a brace as Manchester United defeated a Europe XI 4-3 in an entertaining encounter at Old Trafford to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and United's entry into Europe.

The Whites ace who, along with Stelios Giannakopolous and Ivan Campo, came on as a second-half substitute in the friendly game which raised £1.25million for charity.

Diouf, who will be back at the Theatre of Dreams for Bolton's clash with the Premiership leaders on Saturday, took the opportunity to familiarise himself with the surroundings by netting a close-range header and an audacious late penalty.

But his efforts could not prevent the hosts running out eventual winners in front of a 74,343 crowd - a record for a friendly game at the stadium.

Wayne Rooney handed a strong-looking United side the lead after just five minutes, before Wes Brown added a second soon after.

Lyon's Florent Malouda pulled one back with a fine strike before Ronaldo restored the home side's advantage with a stunning free-kick.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had missed a penalty for the visitors by the time Rooney added a fourth, and Europe could not recover from that despite Diouf's second-half double.