Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has described his side’s 4-0 win at Sunderland as one of their best erformances of the season.

Despite missing some key players, including Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and Anderson, the Red Devils made short work of their struggling opponents – establishing a 3-0 lead by half-time through Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha.

A late Saha penalty put the icing on the cake for the Stadium of Light visitors, and afterwards Ferguson was full of praise for his players.

“It was an excellent performance, I thought the passing and movement was excellent,” Ferguson said.

“The first goal put us in the driving seat because we knew Sunderland were going through a bit of a sticky patch.

“It was a marvellous move for the first goal and after that, we did play well.”

Coupled with Arsenal’s goalless draw at Portsmouth, the victory moves defending champions United to the top of the Premier League table.

Meanwhile the Black Cats’ recent slump in form, which has seen them win just once in their last 13 matches, drops Roy Keane’s side to second-from-bottom in the division