THE INDEPENDENT
Old Trafford still glittered in the night air but it was a palace of a dispossessed aristocracy. However good this victory was, and at times, it was hugely impressive, what would have enraged Sir Alex Ferguson was how irrelevant it all appeared. The stadium may have held double the population of Monaco but this would have been scant consolation.Much as the Manchester United manager affects to despise journalists, he would not have wanted the press box to be half empty last night, he would not have wanted to have had third billing in Radio Five's list of the day's football highlights, behind the Champions' League and Hull's attempt to win promotion from the Third Division. The limelight was on the Côte d'Azur and everybody knew it.
Nevertheless, this was a fine victory, which might on another evening have been even more comprehensive. It went a long way to ending the lovely fantasy of Charlton appearing in the Champions' League and to ensuring that when Chelsea come to Manchester on 8 May, they will be playing for the right to avoid a qualifier somewhere in eastern Europe.
That in reality is all the "race for second" is all about. Even the much talked of security scare was hard to observe at a ground where access to players is as difficult to achieve an audience with a dictator.
They may have silently wished to be elsewhere but United's players began with a verve that was entirely absent in their recent listless displays against Leicester and Portsmouth. Ferguson fielded no fewer than three specialist strikers and at times the aggression of Manchester United's play matched that of the tactics.
THE GUARDIAN
Being on Premiership duty while the European Cup semi-finals swung into action might have been as appealing to Manchester United as a barbecue in the rain, yet Sir Alex Ferguson's players ensured this was anything but a night of Mancunian melancholy. They may have been forced to lower their sights but will cherish a highly competent display which ought really to have yielded more goals.
Charlton were fortunate to come across United in one of their generous moods, with Ruud van Nistelrooy still searching for his best form after a knee injury. Otherwise there might have been many more goals to add to Louis Saha's seventh in his 11 appearances as a United player and a second in three matches for Gary Neville, who had waited three years before then to get his name on the scoresheet.
Neville's breakaway strike was the outstanding moment of a night which put United to within a point of Chelsea in pursuit of second place in the Premiership and automatic entry to the Champions League rather than the probability of an early-August qualifier.
Finishing above Chelsea would also swell United's already bloated resources by another £545,000 in prize money, although the supporters of England's biggest club are clearly under no illusions that, to Ferguson, coming second is really first last.
This was one of those nights when Old Trafford struggled initially to find its voice, and after the talk about bomb plots and tightened security there was the rare sight of empty seats in the Stretford End, contributing to the lowest league crowd here this season.
THE TIMES
If there is one thing that has embarrassed Gary Neville more than his goalscoring record, it is the fact that his occasional strikes seem to have come at the least important times. There may have been many far more significant evenings in Manchester United’s recent history than last night but, as one of the few players who appears to be stirred by the challenge of beating Chelsea to second place in the Barclaycard Premiership, the defender would be entitled to draw some genuine satisfaction from a recent haul that puts Ruud van Nistelrooy, among others, to shame.
Eight days ago, Neville had scored only four goals in 427 appearances for United, having gone more than three years since his previous goal in the Premiership. His effort midway through the second half last night, though, was his second in three appearances and helped to secure another precious victory, against a Charlton Athletic team who showed little appetite to pursue their ambition of Champions League qualification once the impressive Louis Saha had opened the scoring after 28 minutes with his seventh goal in nine Premiership appearances for United.
United’s supporters have grown strangely accustomed to such sterile occasions as this in recent weeks but, with Liverpool also due at Old Trafford on Saturday, this may be the last time they are treated to such an experimental line-up by Ferguson. David Bellion will be grateful, then, for the fleeting impression he made on the left of midfield, whereas Darren Fletcher and Saha will hope to have earned more opportunities to stake their claim for a place in the team for the FA Cup Final next month.
THE TORYGRAPH
With 67,477 fans Old Trafford was not any less full for the dark warnings this week about its potential to be a terrorist target, but if ever there was a sense that United have slipped from the centre of English football's focus then it was last night. While a Champions League semi-final unfolded elsewhere, Ferguson's team set about their task without the verve they so often possess at this stage of the season.
Tim Howard was back after six games' absence, but Ferguson's policy of selection for goalkeepers has long been impossible to read. He might have dared to trust the American once again, but he did not display the same faith in the fitness of Roy Keane.
Van Nistelrooy was back for the first time since the visit to Arsenal last month but it was Saha who looked the greatest threat. While Van Nistelrooy flayed a promising free-kick into the East Stand in a poor imitation of David Beckham, his French strike partner looked quick and elusive.
Saha's short free-kick to Phil Neville after 18 minutes caught the Charlton defence looking the other way and Dean Kiely did well to stop the shot from the England international. The Charlton goalkeeper picked himself up to stop a second effort from Neville and Saha sliced the third loose ball wide of the post.
With Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo both on the bench it fell to David Bellion to occupy the left-wing spot. This was the second start of the month for the Frenchman but, on the left, he threatened rarely until just before the half hour when he played a crucial role in United's goal.
As United broke out of defence, Gary Neville found Bellion advancing halfway through his own half. For no good reason, the Charlton defence opened up in front of him and, as he burst forward, Saha timed his run out to the left perfectly. Bellion's quick ball out found the United striker who needed just one touch to steer his shot past Kiely and inside the far post.
It was Saha who proved Charlton's greatest concern in the early stages of the second half and before he made way for Giggs on 66 minutes, the Frenchman was part of a little slice of goalscoring history at Old Trafford. Not his own achievement, but the first ever two-goal season for Gary Neville, who scored his second in consecutive home games after running on to to a pass from Saha.
The strike against Leicester last week would appear to have given Neville an uncharacteristic taste for goal. His sixth goal for United in a mere 430 performances came from a move started by the England full-back who fed a ball inside to Saha and bowled down the right wing to join the attack. When the perfectly weighted return pass arrived, Neville needed just one touch before steering it home.