THE TIMES
It is a fair guess that David Moyes will not be joining the queue outside Manchester United's Megastore this afternoon, when Wayne Rooney will be signing copies of his autobiography.
Nor are too many Everton supporters likely to join the throng, to judge by some of the chants directed at their former idol last night, but, as he thumbs the ghostwritten pages that prompted Moyes to serve a writ against him, Rooney will dream of adding a postscript detailing a Barclays Premiership title triumph next May.
United's position at the top of the table cannot be described as comfortable while a team as relentless as Chelsea are hot on their heels, but this, against an Everton side who faded after an impressive start, became the perfect exercise for Rooney and Co after the tense 1-1 draw with the champions at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Even with five changes to his starting line-up — a tactic that he admitted was a gamble — Sir Alex Ferguson was able to see United run out clear winners, with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra and John O'Shea preserving their three-point lead over Chelsea.
There was no shortage of subplots — not least involving the Neville brothers, who made Premiership history by leading out their respective teams as captain, and Ryan Giggs, whose absence sparked rumours, subsequently denied, of a fallout with Ferguson — but Rooney was always the centre of attention.
While the goal he craved proved elusive, he was at the centre of all the drama on the pitch, whether with the ball, tussling with Phil Neville or winding up the Everton supporters by kissing the badge on his shirt in response to the unpleasant chants directed at him.
"It's just what happens nowadays," Moyes said of the chants from the visiting fans' enclosure, but, irrespective of his legal wrangle with Rooney, he had more pressing concerns after a defeat that extended Everton's miserable recent sequence to two wins in ten Premiership matches. They had started strongly, threatening through Leon Osman and James McFadden in the early stages, but the lack of attacking thrust, with Tim Cahill and Andrew Johnson missing through injury, was to cost them dear.
THE INDIE
It seems even Sir Alex Ferguson is susceptible to a "psychological jab" from Jose Mourinho now and again. Though he dismissed loaded comments from his closest rival on the nerve, away form and strength of Manchester United as mere mind games, Ferguson could not resist the temptation to show the Chelsea manager that Old Trafford's resources do stretch beyond his usual suspects against Everton last night.
Making five changes to the side that squandered the chance to establish a six-point lead over the champions on Sunday, the United manager was, for once, repaid by the fringe players who cast the greatest doubt on the League leader's ability to remain on top as David Moyes' side were comfortably swatted aside and a three-point lead over Mourinho retained.
Ferguson's reward for gambling was an ugly performance but a resounding victory, yet while there was vindication for his rotation policy it will require fiercer tests than the one provided by an Everton side limited in numbers, ambition and menace to suggest his squad can stretch far enough to deprive Chelsea of a hat-trick of titles.
John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson were among those handed rare opportunities to prove that their manager's confidence in them is not misplaced, with the Irish midfielder illustrating their positive response by flicking home United's third in the 88th minute, although Ferguson did give credence to the suspicion that he holds Ryan Giggs responsible for Ricardo Carvalho's equaliser on Sunday - as a consequence of a dreadful cross-field pass that handed Chelsea a throw in the build-up to their goal - by leaving the Welsh international out of the squad entirely.
"I told Ryan on Sunday that he wouldn't be playing tonight. He is 33 today and he's got to look after the old species," insisted Ferguson. "Dropping points on Sunday put pressure on me in terms of changing the team but with Benfica up next week I wanted to make sure that players we might need, and who haven't been playing recently, would not be cold. It was a bit of a risk to make so many changes, and it's true that you don't get the same fluency with so many changes, but we have got away with it."
With in-form Nemanja Vidic also out as a result of a tender jaw suffered against Chelsea, though not fractured as United had initially feared, the home side's team sheet should have provided Moyes with all the incentive he needed to abandon a cautious approach the moment it landed.
THE GUARDIAN
Manchester United remain defiantly at the top of the Premiership and the bad news for chasing Chelsea is that it will almost certainly get worse before it gets any better. Sir Alex Ferguson's experimental team never touched their most exhilarating heights last night but they were still too strong for Everton and now have the prospect of going nine points clear by the time Chelsea next play.
The most tantalising thought for Ferguson as he reflected on an ultimately routine victory was that United have two matches, at Middlesbrough on Saturday and at home to Manchester City a week later, before Chelsea resume Premiership duties against Arsenal on Sunday week.
Ferguson, the eternal optimist, will embrace the prospect of establishing his team in a position of considerable strength and it is increasingly clear that if Jose Mourinho is to win a third successive Premiership title he will have to do it the hard way.
The durability of United can be gauged by the fact that Ferguson had left out five of the players he pitted against Chelsea on Sunday. The question at kick-off was whether he had gambled too heavily, and ultimately the answer was in the negative.
Cristiano Ronaldo put them ahead shortly before the interval, Patrice Evra made it 2-0 with his first goal for the club and John O'Shea added the final flourish as Old Trafford was fast emptying. Everton were willing but limited opponents, although their manager, David Moyes, was entitled to believe the margin of defeat gave the match a somewhat unbalanced appearance.
Ferguson accepted that he had taken a "risk" but argued that he needed to keep players fresh for the Champions League tie against Benfica next Wednesday. "We had to make the changes and we've got away with it," he said, reflecting on his decision to put Paul Scholes, Louis Saha and Gabriel Heinze on the bench, with no place at all for Ryan Giggs or Nemanja Vidic. The United manager had taken a calculated gamble and, with so many changes, it was probably only to be expected his team would not illuminate Old Trafford as they have done at other times this season.
THE TELEGRAPH
St Andrew's Day dawned with sport's most famous Scot in his preferred position, staring down at his opponents from football's summit.
If Sir Alex Ferguson is to remain there, then Manchester United need to overcome the game's middle-classes - Everton, Middlesbrough and Blackburn - teams who have inflicted serious wounds during the last three seasons.
Despite the quality of the finishing from Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrice Evra, this was not an inspired victory on a night that apart from Wayne Rooney's performance, lacked something. Rooney answered the taunts of the Everton supporters by flaunting his badge and stretching every sinew to force a breakthrough.
It was his shot, turned back into the area by Evra, that John O'Shea clipped neatly home just before the end to put a gloss on the evening.
Rooney will reappear at Old Trafford today to sign copies of the autobiography that has prompted David Moyes to sue for libel, although this result will have caused the Everton manager as much hurt as Rooney's ghosted words. His team's work-rate deserved better than a three-goal defeat, although with the out-of-sorts James Beattie leading his attack in place of the injured Andy Johnson, there was no edge to Everton's efforts.
Ferguson had made five alterations to the side that had drawn the over-hyped "title decider" with Chelsea on Sunday. It left much depending on an inexperienced midfield, each member of whom had something to prove, but aside from a free-kick from Kieran Richardson that skimmed the crossbar, nothing much happened to threaten Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs.
Scholes was on the bench but Giggs, upon whose shoulders so much of United's revival has rested, stared down at proceedings from the directors' box on his 33rd birthday. Rumours had been swirling around Manchester that there had been a bust-up with Ferguson, who held him responsible for Ricardo Carvalho's equaliser on Sunday. This was categorically denied by United who pointed out that Giggs had a tight calf muscle and was being rested ready for games against Middlesbrough and Benfica, two clubs who between them had thoroughly wrecked United's last campaign.
Every side that has ever won a championship has required a degree of fortune and six minutes from the interval United received theirs. The finish from Ronaldo, employed as a supporting foil to Rooney, was admittedly immaculate. He buried his shot into the corner of Richard Wright's net but the ball had only fallen to his feet via a ricochet when Michael Carrick's shot was blocked.