Ruud van Nistelrooy hit his first European goal for German club Hamburg when he struck in the 3-1 win over Anderlecht in the Europa League.

Hamburg opened up the scoring in the 23rd minute through an unlikely source in full-back Joris Mathijsen before van Nistelrooy struck with his left foot from close range to make it 2-0 after 40 minutes.

The Belgians got one back on the stroke of half-time after a superb free-kick from Jonathan Legear but it was to no avail as Hamburg made it 3-1 with 14 minutes remaining thanks to David Jarolim.