United’s stroll in the park

Manchester United 3, Fulham 0

IT was another predictable night at Old Trafford as Manchester United stretched their lead over Liverpool at the top of the Premier League to five points.

Record-breaking goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar kept his 14th successive shut-out in the league as the Reds posted their 10th straight competitive victory.

Despite the visitors occupying a top-half place in the table, it was an embarrassingly one-sided contest in which United could have won by a much wider margin.

Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted that his side capitalised on their match in hand.

He went on: “You can never be sure that any of the teams are out of the title race, but Chelsea (10 points behind in third place) do face an uphill fight.

“We were once 12 points clear of Arsenal and lost the league title. We had a lot of injuries that season, but hopefully we have a big-enough squad capable of coping with any such problems this time.”

Although van der Sar continues to hog the headlines — he is now sixth in the world’s all-time list having gone almost 22 hours without conceding a league goal — he must be the most under-worked ’keeper in the Premier League by virtue of the defensive protection in front of him.

He only had two anxious moments when Bobby Zamora twice fired wide when he should have hit the target, while Nemanja Vidic was fortunate not to concede a penalty for what appeared a blatant handball.

Ryan Giggs has been a revelation in recent weeks but, in the absence of the Welsh wizard, it was another golden oldie who stole the show last night.

Grotton-based Paul Scholes rolled back the years with a display reminiscent of him at the peak of his career. He sprayed the ball around the midfield with radar-like precision and scored a spectacular first league goal of the season to set the Reds on the road to victory.

“Some of his switches of play were absolutely magnificent,” enthused Ferguson. “He is a great example to young players in the sense of how to live their lives and keep their ambition. We are proud to have him here.”

Scholes, one of seven changes from the side which won at Derby on Sunday in the FA Cup, made the breakthrough in the 12th minute after he met Michael Carrick’s corner on the volley.

Scholes also had a hand in the second goal on the half hour. He lofted a pass over the defence for John O’Shea, who to squared the ball for Dimitar Berbatov to force home from close range.

Carlos Tevez and Berbatov had goals ruled out for offside, while goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer pulled off a couple of smart saves.

United’s third goal arrived midway through the second period when Wayne Rooney, returning from a five-week injury lay-off, fired home at the far post.

It was Rooney’s first touch after coming on a substitute.Manchester United 3, Fulham 0