Manchester United moved to the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Goals from Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and a pair from Louis Saha ensured United moved two points clear of Arsenal who play at Portsmouth later this evening.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson rested Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez, and Anderson, but his team were still by far the more creative force and played much of the second-half in second gear.
The home side looked comfortable for the first 20 minutes as United took their time to get going. But when they did score it was a simple goal which Sunderland in truth could have easily prevented.
Wes Brown lobbed a long ball into the Sunderland area and Rooney found himself in acres of space and he finished calmly from the edge of the penalty area.
United increased the tempo of the game as Sunderland failed to live with the pace of their attacks and had really secured the points by half-time.
The returning Saha got onto the end of a cross from Rooney and volleyed the ball into the bottom corner of the Sunderland goal.
Ronaldo scored his 17th goal of the season with a brilliant free-kick to make it 3-0 at half-time. The Portuguese winger had another free-kick beaten away by Craig Gordon and the Sunderland keeper made a fine save at the feet of Nani to make sure the scoreline stayed respectable.
There was very little excitement in the second-half as United took their foot of the gas and Sunderland rarely threatened to score. But United did add a fourth late on when Nani was brought down in the penalty area and Saha stepped up to score.
