United in good heart for Europe

Chelsea 0 Manchester United 3

Internal link

Duel that became a one-Van show

To think, in three weeks' time, Sir Alex Ferguson would have been quietly walking away from all this, the sunset of retirement dominating his horizon. He may even have reflected yesterday that this would have been his final journey, as United's manager, to a London club.

No wonder he underwent a dramatic conversion on the way to the mad-house. It would not have been quite so drastic a transformation, of course, because he had been offered other responsibilities at Old Trafford. But the effect would have been traumatic. His whole raison d'être removed, and by his own hand.

His team, and here in the absence of three of the mega-stars it was left to the merely-stars, continue to astonish with their virtuosity. Ryan Giggs, captain in place of Roy Keane, was asked to operate through the middle. He took a scythe to his Chelsea counterparts and ensured a rich harvest for Ruud van Nistelrooy, who missed a sitter but compensated in style with one goal and a contribution to the other two, scored by Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were irrepressible, two of England's lions unleashed again after their midweek exertions, and, despite the efforts of Frank Lampard and Emmanuel Petit in continually seeking to prompt openings for their forwards, it was a lost cause after the first quarter-hour. At the back, even Fabien Barthez had a safety council emblem stamped on his forehead, for once. Wes Brown, having wobbled at first with a poor clearance, was thereafter a model of composure.

Too late, one imagines, for World Cup consideration. But at least Sven Goran Eriksson was here, observing. More than a few spectators were watching him, too, following revelations that he and his compatriot Ulrika Jonsson had been reportedly enjoying late-night discussions about the old country. The so-called ice maiden, a United fan, was here herself in the directors' box, but not with Eriksson. She was accompanied by the television presenter Angus Deayton. Eriksson had other distractions and the only good Jonsson in his view was playing for Chelsea; he was substituted at half-time, his pride as well as his ankle hurting.

The Blues enjoyed their 15 minutes of expectation, but then the visitors assumed command. Sometimes you can over-intellectualise victories and defeat. This was best summed up by "Honest" John Terry, who opined: "They were taking the piss out of us. It was embarrassing."

Chelsea may have been a team who believe their horizons extend no further than an FA Cup final a week on Saturday. But in the competition between the Premiership's big cannons – Van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen, who had scored 107 goals between them this season before the start – the latter pair had evidently been primed with damp powder.

United's reappearance at the summit of the Premiership, albeit briefly, was a pointed response to those who had suggested that the title might inflict on them altitude-sickness this season. But, perhaps just as crucially, this triumph was achieved with such ease that it was no more than a limbering-up before their fixture against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

United, despite Wednesday's Champions' League examination, fielded the strongest side that they could in absence of the injured Beckham, Keane and Juan Sebastian Veron. As Ferguson said, when questioned about the loss of the England and Ireland captains: "I think that's overplayed, when you think we've got players like Nicky Butt, who was marvellous today, and Phil Neville, who came on and did a tremendous job."

The manager added: "The spirit of the team tells me that we'll handle it without Roy and David."

In the opening minutes, Jesper Gronkjaer threatened United's right flank sufficiently to send Chelsea expectations soaring. But Barthez hurled a clearance out to Van Nistelrooy, who was haring down the right flank, where he was unceremoniously grounded by Gronkjaer. It earned a caution for the Dane, but worse was to ensue when Giggs squared the resulting free-kick to Scholes. His meaty, low drive curled beyond Cudicini.

Seven minutes later Solskjaer's chip forward released Van Nistelrooy, with Chelsea's offside claims futile. But the Dutchman placed his shot within reach of Cudicini, who saved splendidly.

United's intricate patterns were being imprinted on the pristine pitch. A first attempt from Chelsea, suffering from terminal lethargy, was 25 minutes arriving, Gianfranco Zola and Lampard linking well, before the former West Ham man forced a sprawling save from Barthez. That was about as good as it got for Ranieri's men. When they did approach the red defensive ranks, Hasselbaink too frequently ended up on his backside.

Five minutes before the break, a glorious movement instigated by Gary Neville, who passed to Giggs, allowed United to penetrate well into the Chelsea half before Solskjaer slipped the ball to Van Nistelrooy. This time, there was no mistake from the Dutchman, who skipped round Cudicini before rolling ball into unguarded net for his 33rd goal of the season.

Chelsea brought on Boudewijn Zenden for Gudjohnsen at the interval, but to no great effect. Lampard's low shot, saved comfortably by Barthez, brought a flutter of encouragement to the home faithful, but that was about it. Indeed, Van Nistelrooy should have tidied things up a lot earlier for United, but he twice allowed Cudicini to intervene.

With five minutes remaining, another treat for the purists. Phil Neville's ball up the left flank, found Van Nistelrooy, who rounded Marcel Desailly, leaving him kneeling, literally, and offering prayers, metaphorically, before prodding the ball forward to Giggs. The Welshman found the advancing Solskjaer on the far post and he applied a facile finishing touch for his season's quarter-century.

Claudio Ranieri was devastated – and it sounded even worse in broken English. "Losing is not a big problem," the Chelsea manager cried. "The problem is the performance. We would have lost against our Academy side. Unbelievable. That's football. It's crazy."

And dare one mention Chelsea's Champions' League ambitions? "It was difficult before. Now it's very hard." He can say that again. Just as his Manchester United counterpart is thankful that he can say that he will be returning here again.