'WINNING IS WHAT MATTERS NOW'

THE OBSERVER:

A hat-trick from Ruud van Nistelrooy took Manchester United to the top of the Premiership for the first time in a year, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson to tighten the psychological screw on an Arsenal side he has already castigated for overconfidence.

'Winning is what matters now,' Ferguson said. 'Championships are not won through overconfidence and complacency. This season it is going to be a test of nerve, concentration and ambition.'

Arsenal can go back to the top by winning their game in hand this afternoon, but as Ferguson well knows, their confidence has taken a knock in the past week. Going out of the Champions League was a big blow to their self-belief and a team who can lose twice to Blackburn Rovers in a season can do so against Everton. Arsenal also have that FA Cup quarter-final replay against Chelsea on Tuesday to worry about. The success of their season now rests on the next few days and Arsenal's story so far suggests they run out of ideas once other teams have caught them up.

Ferguson is right to guard against complacency, though. His side's next three games are against Liverpool, Newcastle United and Arsenal, in an 11-day period that also includes the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, so by mid-April we will know a great deal more about United's chances of winning silverware this season. Ferguson might be encouraged by the relative ordinariness of Real's season so far, but that was exactly the case when the Spanish giants woke up at the quarter-final stage three years ago.

THE INDEPENDENT:

Three goals, the second of which was breathtaking. The supporters and the manager may despise early-Saturday kick-offs, but they do provide Manchester United with an opportunity to toss a gauntlet in Arsenal's direction. Yesterday they reached the top of the Premiership for the first time this season, using the 12.30 start to move a point ahead of the champions.

Last week, United's lunchtime triumph piled the pressure on their strongest rivals, who duly lost at Blackburn; today Arsenal face Everton knowing another reverse will concede the advantage to Sir Alex Ferguson's team. Suddenly it's not so bad to be the early birds.

Certain Ruud van Nistelrooy will have little reason to complain when the pasta next arrives at breakfast time. He scored all three goals to take his tally to 32 for the season, and his second was so spectacular it would gladly have been claimed by George Best. Expect it to be vying for a place on Old Trafford Great Goals DVDs for many years to come.

The Dutchman is noted for his power and predatory instincts in the area rather than his running with the ball, but on this occasion he spreadeagled the Fulham defence. He was surrounded by three players in the centre circle and Fulham felt he used his elbow to gain space, but once he turned there was destructive beauty to his actions. Van Nistelrooy thought about and ignored a pass to his left, accelerated past two challengers and then shaped to strike with his left before passing into the net with his right.

Like the supporters, who staged a protest before the match to signal their displeasure at the scarcity of Saturday 3pm kick-offs at Old Trafford, Ferguson does not appreciate the early starts, and given United's patchy first half you could understand why. After an initial flurry when Van Nistelrooy twice tested the reflexes of Maik Taylor with fierce drives to the near post and Ryan Giggs had a toe-poke cleared off the line by Andy Melville, Fulham dominated for 20 minutes, and were unfortunate not to take the lead.

Manchester United went back to the top of the Premiership for the first time in a year yesterday, but do not be misled by the margin of victory provided by Ruud van Nistelrooy's hat-trick. This was not a vintage performance by the former champions who had to work much harder than expected to overcome the rather lightweight challenge of Fulham.

The Dutch striker's second was a breathtaking demonstration of pace and individual skill, but Jean Tigana, the Fulham manager, protested angrily that Van Nistelrooy had caught Sylvain Legwinski in the eye with a flailing arm as he won possession of the ball at the start of his run in the centre circle. Two Fulham players then stopped playing in expectation of a free kick, argued Tigana.

As happened too often in this rather dull game, the referee, Steve Bennett, saw no offence and allowed Van Nistelrooy to go on and score the goal that lifted the contest out of the ordinary for a moment. Once that task was completed, after 68 minutes, the game was as good as over. Van Nistelrooy's third merely served to underline his astonishing scoring record for United: 32 in 41 starts this season and 68 in 85 overall.

This time there were no mistakes. On the corresponding weekend of last season, Manchester United, having clambered to a point ahead of Arsenal, all but surrendered the title with a tame home defeat against Middlesbrough. Today marks a year since they last topped the Premiership. Now Sir Alex Ferguson’s team are back there again and the parcel has been passed to Arsenal. As Ferguson said, inimitably, it’s squeaky bum time.

A hat-trick from Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose second goal was worthy of van Gogh, quashed United’s anxiety whenever it grew. His first, from a penalty just before half-time, settled a home crowd beginning to fear their side would go into the interval goalless despite making a powerful start and enjoying several opportunities.

The supporters were just getting worried again, midway through the second period, when van Nistelrooy scored gloriously for 2-0. His hat-trick effort, a back-post volley from a Ryan Giggs cross that bounced in off Jon Harley, allowed them to go home singing lustily. Their ditty? "United — top of the league."

It seems almost odd that Ferguson’s team find themselves in such a position entering the business end of the season given they are still to put in a league performance that could be bracketed with their best. They did put six goals past West Ham in the FA Cup in January, but this was their joint biggest Premiership win this campaign. What has kept United going, uncharacteristically, has been their defence. "We conceded possession at times," Ferguson said, "but we never looked like conceding a goal."

Van Nistelrooy always looked diamond-cutter sharp and threatened Fulham as early as the sixth minute, when he spun Zat Knight and whipped in a low shot that had Maik Taylor scrambling at his near post.

Tigana is an adherent of using video analysis to improve players and the tape of United’s opening goal will make uncomfortable viewing for Djetou, who let himself get on the wrong side of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when Beckham rolled a pass to the Norwegian and allowed him to turn inside the box.

Djetou grabbed the striker’s arm and he went down. Penalty, more or less. It was a big moment for van Nistelrooy, who had not scored in the Premiership since February 9, but the Dutchman drove his spot-kick home unerringly.