THE OBSERVER
Wayne Rooney's miserable few days continued in the form of two glaring first-half misses, but with his team-mates in such form, coming from behind to beat Blackburn emphatically, he was able to disappear for fiancee Coleen McLoughlin's twenty-first birthday party last night with his club still well on course for the title.
Michael Carrick, Park Ji-Sung and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer provided the decisive goals that earned United three priceless Premiership points, but it was the performance of the player who scored the equaliser, Paul Scholes, which was the rallying point for United. Few, if any, observers noted Scholes's absence from the England team as a factor behind their abysmal form this week, but Steve McClaren will be well aware of how his team could have used his services.
Even United's current injury curse - Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic the latest to be lost with a shoulder injury that will sideline him for four to five weeks according to Sir Alex Ferguson - does not seem capable of applying the brakes to United's triumphal march towards yet more silverware.
United looked like a different team from the kick-off after the break, Scholes orchestrating play in the centre, Ronaldo tormenting Rovers down either flank and an equaliser soon looked a formality. Hughes' mood in conceding it would not have been improved, however, by Christopher Samba losing possession on the edge of his own area to Scholes after 61 minutes. The midfielder skipped past Ryan Nelsen and Stephen Warnock before finishing convincingly.
That goal was the catalyst United needed to go on to comfortable victory and, after Brad Freidel saved superbly from Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs then struck the bar with the goal at his mercy, the rout was on.
In the 73rd minute, Ronaldo surged past Tugay on the left and his cross reached Carrick at the back of the area, who had the presence to steady himself and score with a precision finish.
Ten minutes later, Ronaldo provided the creative spark once again - his thunderous free-kick being parried by Friedel for Park to slot in the rebound - and, in the final minute of normal time, substitute Solskjaer appeared unmarked on the end of Park's cross to fire home unopposed and wrap up an impressive victory for the hosts.
'The reason United are top of the league and champions-elect is that they are able to galvanise themselves when they are struggling,' added Hughes. 'When they are struggling to find a little bit of form, they are able to get themselves together and go again. That's certainly what they did in the second half.'
Still, there surely must be some concern over Rooney's form over the past eight days. Twice, with the score goalless, the young striker had only the excellent Friedel - a strong candidate for man of the match despite leaking four - to beat but struck the ball against the keeper on both occasions. If United are to win the treble, which Ferguson insists is only a distant possibility, Rooney will surely have to rediscover his form.
Domestically, for the time being, there is no such need with his team-mates playing in this manner.
THE TELEGRAPH
It was shortly after Rio Ferdinand, letting frustration get the better of him, had angrily blasted the ball into what used to be the Stretford End, hitting a woman (why is it always a woman?) who looked understandably stunned, that Paul Scholes came up with a goal that hit Old Trafford like a massive dose of smelling-salts.
More than 70,000 leapt from their seats to acclaim an equaliser which Scholes stroked wide of Brad Friedel after dribbling past three defenders, and in the half hour left only one side could win this richly entertaining match, which Manchester United duly did through goals from Michael Carrick, Ji-Sung Park and the substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They won it like the champions they will surely be despite the loss of Nemanja Vidic for perhaps a month with a shoulder injury.
Blackburn deserved their share of credit. They led through Matt Derbyshire for more than a third of the contest and, with Brad Friedel outstanding, tried hard to hold on to their advantage. But the sheer weight of quality bearing down upon them in the second half eventually told, Scholes's artistry prompting some delightful stuff from the habitually dazzling Cristiano Ronaldo, who set up both Carrick, with a cutback, and Park, with a free kick Friedel could only parry.
In a sense United could have done with more tranquil preparation for their Champions League first leg against Roma in the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, but few here were complaining and afterwards Sir Alex Ferguson hailed ''one of our best performances of the season'', mentioning, among other aspects, the ''conveyor-belt of passes'' from Scholes and Carrick that kept the front men supplied. ''Add the great resolve and determination and you've got everything you look for in a football team.'' Even the support from the crowd had been ''fantastic, the best for years''. Yes, he was pleased, albeit not quite enough to save Chris Foy from a sideswipe about ''strange decisions''. In truth the only strange one I could remember was the denial of a Blackburn penalty for Wes Brown's use of an arm; the referee was unsighted.
From the start it had been almost thrill-a-minute. Even before a couple of Ronaldo sidesteps had fully invigorated the crowd, there had been danger to Blackburn in the form of Wayne Rooney's run on to a clever through ball from Ryan Giggs; it took an extremely judicious intervention by Friedel to thwart Rooney, who then had a shot diverted behind and another, from close range, blocked by the American.
THE INDIE
It was as the second part of a double setback for United that Blackburn got their noses in front. First Vidic, falling awkwardly inside the Blackburn penalty area, had to be replaced. And no sooner had John O'Shea taken the field in his place than United were suffering in their own penalty area, where Van der Sar stopped Carrick's deflection off Morten Gamst Pedersen's low cross from going into his own net but could not deny Derbyshire, whose sharp reactions enabled him to claim his seventh goal of the season.
The extent to which those incidents rattled United was illustrated in an extraordinary moment early in the second half when Rio Ferdinand, furious at failing to be allowed advantage after a foul on Ronaldo, blasted the ball into the Stretford End from close range and struck a spectator full in the face. Medics quickly rushed to the aid of the unfortunate victim and it was much to the relief of an apologetic Ferdinand that the damage was not serious.
By then, Rooney had seen another couple of chances come and go, although United did not have much longer to wait for their collective frustrations to be lifted, thanks to a piece of individual brilliance from Scholes to cap an impressive return from suspension. Collecting a loose ball at the edge of the Blackburn box, Scholes evaded two full-on challenges before beating Friedel with a crisp diagonal strike to give his side a well-deserved parity. United were in full sail now and in the moments that followed, Tugay's foul on Ronaldo almost conceded a penalty, Ronaldo was denied by another Friedel save and Giggs thundered the ball against the bar from the edge of the six-yard box.
Throughout all this, Ronaldo, displaying a menace and trickery that excites the crowd every time he has the ball, was tormenting Blackburn and it was from his astute pull back that a nerveless Carrick sidefooted the ball through a crowded penalty area to claim the lead. It looked enough but United were far from being done.
Christopher Samba's hand-ball allowed Ronaldo another crack and he deserved not to be denied by Friedel's save but, in any event, the ball ran kindly for Park to add the third. With Blackburn beaten, the substitute Solskjaer wrapped things up with a late fourth. The title beckons.
THE TIMES
Eat your hearts out, Chelsea. Manchester United had the look of champions, and Cristiano Ronaldo the Footballer of the Year, as the league leaders came back from a goal down to overpower Blackburn in front of a record Premiership crowd.
Rovers took the lead after 29 minutes, through Matt Derbyshire, their England Under21 international striker, but that was as good as it got for Mark Hughes and his team. Responding impressively in adversity, United stamped hard on the gas and would have scored a hatful but for Brad Friedel's heroics in the Blackburn goal and further evidence of Wayne Rooney's dramatic loss of form.
Rooney wasted four good chances of the sort he used to deem routine, and his frustration got the better of him early in the second half when, through on goal and flagged offside, he thrashed the ball into the crowd, injuring a middle-aged woman.
Blackburn, to their credit, defended well in the first half after going ahead, but they were swept away after the interval by a torrent of football of irresistible quality. There was a downside for United, however. Nemanja Vidic was carried off on a stretcher with a dislocated shoulder. United were again without Gary Neville, but had Edwin Van der Sar fit again. A significant absentee from the Blackburn team was David Bentley, who was suspended. His replacement, David Dunn, produced the first goal attempt, firing over from 20 yards. United, with Ronaldo and Park Ji-Sung Park swapping wings, soon took up the initiative and ought to have been 2-0 up after 25 minutes. Instead Rooney reacted as if he still had England's white shirt on his back, spurning two straightforward chances. The first, after 15 minutes, came when Friedel spilled a 25-yarder from Ronaldo. Rooney, following in, should have scored, but Friedel made a top-notch save. The second, 10 minutes later, saw Ryan Giggs catch the Blackburn defence square with a through pass that left Rooney one on one with the goalkeeper four yards out. This time the England man allowed the ball to become trapped under his feet and Friedel was able to frustrate him again. Vidic, injured contesting a corner with Ryan Nelsen, was carried off and Blackburn struck while the United defence was in reshuffle mode. Benni McCarthy, near the left, turned the ball back to Morten Gamst Pedersen, whose cross towards the near post was a good one. Michael Carrick moved to cut it out, but his touch threatened an own goal. Van der Sar kept it out, but could not hold the ball and Derbyshire scored from close range. The second half started no better for Rooney, who wasted Park's right-wing cross with a tame header, then drove weakly at Friedel.
Carrick headed over from a Giggs free kick and United were turning the screw. Aaron Mokoena (nickname The Axe) should have been sent off after 58 minutes when he elbowed the outstanding Paul Scholes in the face off the ball, a disgraceful incident missed by all the officials. United's pressure finally paid off after 61 minutes, when Scholes got the better of Christopher Samba in a 50-50 on the edge of the D, then stepped away from Nelsen and Stephen Warnock before shooting across Friedel. The thin blue and white line was broken again after 73 minutes, when Ronaldo beat Mokoena on the left before cutting the ball back to Carrick, who scored with a low drive. The third came seven minutes from the end of normal time, when Samba's handball on the 18-yard line presented Ronaldo with a free kick that Friedel could only parry. Park was in quickest to drive home the loose ball. Then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, on for Ronaldo, completed the scoring from Park's final pass.