MATCH VIEWS FROM THE BROADSHEETS

THE OBSERVER - FERGUSON CERTAIN THE BOYS ARE BACK

Chalk up another point to Sir Alex Ferguson - as if he needed one - in his ongoing battle of wits and words with Arsène Wenger.

In the week that the Arsenal manager branded United's current tactical approach boring, Fergie's charges produced another attacking performance that threatened to engulf woefully inferior opposition.

They scored three second-half goals - Paul Scholes, with his fourth in three games, Wayne Rooney's seventh of the season and Cristiano Ronaldo's first - and might have at least doubled that tally. Seven straight wins, one defeat in 24, 11 goals in four league games, if this is a season of United crisis, there are probably 18 other Premiership managers who would swap it with Ferguson at this moment.

Certainly, Wenger - a shattered, defeated opponent in the spin-doctor war - and José Mourinho will presumably be casting anxious glances over their shoulders this morning and Ferguson has no problem declaring the title race well and truly on as we approach the festivities.

The five-man midfield tactic that so offended Wenger's sensibilities in midweek was again Ferguson's obvious option, given the absence of Ruud van Nistelrooy with a calf injury, but it plays perfectly to Rooney's strengths and natural tendencies to want to drift deep and stay heavily involved in hostilities.

Add a superb performance from Ryan Giggs, supposedly approaching the end of his Old Trafford shelf life, but still a magnificent trouper on his day and Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark flaky, but deadly showing and Southampton were, to put it kindly, lucky to get nil.

THE INDEPENDENT - FERGIE'S SYMPATHY FOR WIGLEY

Chasing Chelsea may appear one of the more futile gestures in sport at the moment but Manchester United are plodding along, hoping the leaders will eventually come into sight weeping by the side of the road. They are not at their imperious best, but they are improving.

Certainly they were far too good yesterday for a Southampton side who were brimming with determination but so lacking in attacking nous they did not manage a shot on target. For 3-0, you could have read treble that if United had converted even a reasonable proportion of their opportunities.

Paul Scholes, with his fourth goal in three Premiership matches, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo managed to rise above this gross act of profligacy, but United's stellar performance came from Ryan Giggs who played with such a zest he could have been an ageing footballer looking for an improved contract. Come to think of it, he is.

Ferguson was happy at the end, but you suspect he was less sanguine at half-time. Perhaps it was because they were kicking off at Old Trafford at 3pm on a Saturday for the first time this season, but United were slow to warm to their task. Or rather, they were piping hot when it came to their approach play and so cold in the penalty area you suspected they had frozen solid.

For the first time this season, they kicked off a home match in the traditional slot of 3pm on a Saturday, and there was something of the old Manchester United about this latest triumph.

It was their seventh consecutive win, their ninth match unbeaten, and while the manager used his programme notes to criticise the effect of television on football scheduling, he was not complaining about his team’s performance.

Had they broadcast this from the moon at three o’clock in the morning, it would still have represented further evidence of United’s renaissance. Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, with his first goal this season, all scored in a commanding second-half display, the upshot of which is that Ferguson’s side have won their past four League matches and scored 11 times in the process.

Still nine points behind leaders Chelsea, Ferguson at least has momentum on his side, and while it was only Southampton they swept aside, United’s manager is back in the groove, intoxicated by the prospect of an old-fashioned charge into contention.

Ferguson had been nostalgic even before the match started, bemoaning the rescheduling of fixtures to unhelpful hours and sympathising with supporters, who had an easier time of it in years gone by.

There was a time when Ferguson seemed almost as tightly wedded to 4-4-2 as Sven-Goran Eriksson but time can mellow the most dogmatic of managers and both have indulged in tactical fluidity of late.

Ferguson has proved the more avant garde and yesterday's apparent idiosyncracies included using Wayne Rooney at left wing as the launch-pad for raids from deep. He was part of a midfield quintet behind Alan Smith - Ruud van Nistelrooy was absent with a slight injury - in which he, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo were all offered attacking scope. Indeed Roy Keane looked the only tackler on view.

With Anders Svensson out of position in central midfield, Southampton seemed too lightweight to take advantage but they proved deceptively resilient, and frustrated Old Trafford by keeping the first half, albeit dominated by United, goalless. Part of the reason for this was the double marking of Ronaldo by Danny Higginbotham, at left-back, and Graeme Le Saux, deployed just in front of him.

If Ronaldo was lucky to escape sanction for apparently directing an elbow into Le Saux's face, it was significant that his most dangerous moment of the first period involved him drifiting into a central position and unleashing a menacing shot which Kasey Keller, on loan from Spurs and deputising for the injured Antti Niemi, did well to push away from a corner.

James Beattie is being linked with a transfer-window move to either Everton or Aston Villa but Southampton's centre forward was unable to further inflate his price here, limping off with calf trouble midway through the first half.

Liberated from the anticipated constraints of marking Beattie, Ferdinand was free to advance and create United's 53rd-minute opener for Scholes, his hooked centre from the left being met instinctively by the midfielder who headed his fourth goal of the season from close range to further banish memories of his recent scoring drought. "I always knew Paul would find his touch again," said Ferguson. "You don't permanently lose great talent."

Not to be outdone, Rooney swiftly reminded everyone of his abilities by scoring United's second, a gorgeous chip over Keller which rose imperiously into the roof of the net after his connection with a measured pass from Gigg. The manner in which Rooney exploded into life, displaying an extraordinary change of pace, to run into position to receive that ball emphasised just what Southampton were up against.

United duly missed further chances before Ronaldo, by now in command of his flank, hit a deserved third, volleying in Gary Neville's cutback.