THE INDIE
Without an end product, doubts had grown as to whether he could ever recreate his glorious standards at Manchester United. Yet with every goal that destroyed Jussi Jaaskelainen's previously unblemished record at the Reebok Stadium this season, vindication moved closer. No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson milked the acclaim of a travelling support that in recent seasons has rarely sang his name as they did on Saturday.
While the second hat-trick of his professional career gave Wayne Rooney the match ball, a prize he kissed then chipped to a kit man for safekeeping having obliterated his 15-hour wait for a goal, the benefits of patience had to be shared with his manager. For Ferguson, who celebrates his 20th anniversary at Old Trafford one week from today, there was immense satisfaction in this destruction of third-placed Bolton - not least in light of his recent transfer policy.
The sale of Ruud van Nistelrooy still inflames passions in the public house inquests around Manchester, while the investment of £18.6m in Michael Carrick, £7.2m in Nemanja Vidic and £4.5m in Patrice Evra are also topics that have made ashtrays fly in this calendar year. One performance does not settle those arguments, no matter how majestic, and United's championship credentials remain reliant on the fitness of Rooney and the fragile Louis Saha, but such was their style and swagger on Saturday that designs on the title are now inevitable. That itself represents a great leap forward following three years' of soul-searching at Old Trafford.
Carrick was integral to United's one-touch marauding, arching two sublime passes behind the Bolton defence for Rooney's opening goal and the third from Cristiano Ronaldo, while Evra's athleticism and the power of Vidic were crucial in repelling the second-half response from Sam Allardyce's side.
"Carrick's ball for their first goal was inch perfect," said Allardyce. "As soon as he hit it I didn't think it would cause us any problems unless it was inch perfect. Unfortunately for us, it was, and Rooney didn't even have to check his stride.
"Then you look at Vidic," he added. "Now he has been given time to adjust to the Premiership he looks outstanding, and Evra as well. People were questioning those players last season but Sir Alex gives them time, he's patient, and now they have added to a very good squad. I think United are the team to go toe to toe with Chelsea this season, but keeping the players in the flair positions fit will be important."
THE TIMES
"It's £39 a ticket", a disconsolate Bolton Wanderers supporter screamed, frustrated by the events unfolding before him, midway through the first half, but when Manchester United, and Wayne Rooney in particular, are in this kind of devastating form, the only real option available to an opposition fan is to sit back and enjoy the spectacle.
Except for a brief period of pressure after the interval, Bolton were outclassed at the Reebok Stadium and only the most bitter of the home team's supporters would have begrudged paying the entry fee.
This match was a victory for total football and even as the mind wandered back to the halcyon days of the mid-1990s, when Cantona, Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis were in their pomp, it was hard to recall a better performance from a United team during Sir Alex Ferguson's reign as manager, which enters its 20th year a week today.
Without a Premiership title in the past three seasons, Ferguson is desperate to avoid his career at Old Trafford being book-ended by a finish as inglorious as its start, but, as Sam Allardyce, the Bolton manager, remarked, if the architects behind this beautifully crafted victory can steer clear of injury, Chelsea will have the toughest of battles on their hands. "I don't mind a two-horse race — I don't even mind a photo finish — as long as we win it," Ferguson said.
The desperation in the United manager's voice was reminiscent of the early years, when ending the club's 26-year wait for the league title was all that mattered, but while Ferguson's future could yet hinge on the outcome of this season's championship race, the ghosts that have haunted United in recent times seemed farther away than ever on Saturday.
The United supporters briefly chanted the name of Roy Keane, but with the resurgent Paul Scholes excelling again and Michael Carrick — who created the first and third goals with sublime passes — looking more like an £18 million player, the former captain was not missed. Nor was Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose sulky demeanour in those final dark days, contrasted starkly with the bristling energy of Louis Saha. "This is not an attack on anyone at all, but we are definitely playing more together this season," Saha said. "It's down to the maturity we may have been lacking previously. People like (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Rooney have really come of age and the return of Paul Scholes has also been crucial."
THE GUARDIAN
There is so much to admire about Manchester United at present that Sir Alex Ferguson's only worry might be whether they have peaked too soon. The Premiership's top side are playing with such panache, with Wayne Rooney now inviting so many superlatives, that there is only one conclusion to draw - that this is a side on the point of a significant arrival.
In which case an apology is probably overdue. These pages may have suggested at various stages that the transfer of Ruud van Nistelrooy could be a devastating blow to United's hopes of catching and overhauling Chelsea.
Questions have been asked about whether United could get by without the player Ferguson habitually trumpeted as the best striker in Europe. Legitimate questions, too.
Yet the overwhelming weight of evidence is that United have developed into a more sleek, polished team without Van Nistelrooy. This looks particularly true now that Rooney - who ended his 10-game run without a goal in the most emphatic way on Saturday - has reacted to the beginnings of a personal crisis like a man swatting away a bothersome fly.
Paul Parker, the former United player now working as an MUTV summariser, suggested recently that Van Nistelrooy had become a liability. "I can't stand lazy players," said the former England international, fuel for the argument that Ferguson has pulled off his most daring masterstroke yet.
"Ruud scored 30 goals a season for us, he was someone I really liked and I was sad to see him go, but we have found a way of playing without him," Louis Saha volunteered after this display of one-touch, pass-them-to-death football. "We are scoring goals from all parts of the pitch now. This is not an attack on anyone, but we are definitely playing more together this season."