Manchester United moved three points clear of Liverpool at the top after a 2-0 win over Portsmouth in Paul Scholes' 600th appearance.
Rooney and Carrick on target as Scholes makes 600th appearance
Manchester United moved three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table after a comfortable 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Old Trafford.
Wayne Rooney set the reigning champions on their way with an early opener as United sought to reclaim top spot after Liverpool's 4-4 draw with Arsenal on Tuesday night.
And substitute Michael Carrick settled any lingering nerves by firing home a crisp second goal in the 82nd minute to finish off Pompey.
United were in front via their first dangerous attack on nine minutes as Anderson's brilliant pass played Ryan Giggs in behind the defence and he rolled the ball across the six-yard box to provide Rooney with a simple finish.
The match should have been over by half-time, but the leaders wasted numerous chances, with Giggs the most profligate.
Early substitute John O'Shea saw a header cleared off the line by Nadir Belhadj before Giggs was denied by David James and then lifted another attempt wide.
Portsmouth perked up as an attacking force in the second half, but despite the occasional threat, failed to seriously trouble Edwin van der Sar.
The points were put in safekeeping eight minutes from time when Paul Scholes, making his 600th appearance for the club, played a penetrating pass through to Carrick, who drove a low shot beyond James and inside the post.
Telling intervention
Unusually for Scholes, until his telling late intervention he was fairly subdued as he joined Bill Foulkes, Sir Bobby Charlton and long-time team-mate Giggs in United's exclusive 600 club.
In fact, it was midfield partner Anderson and evergreen Giggs - who has now turned out an incredible 799 times for his only professional club - who caught the eye.
The pair were at the heart of most United attacking moves, combining in brilliant fashion for Rooney's early opener.
Anderson sent Giggs flying down the left flank with a brilliant reverse pass that found the Welshman just onside.
With 10 championship medals to his name, Giggs is not in the habit of panicking in such situations. And he calmly rolled his cross along the six-yard box, where Rooney gleefully tapped him.
Had Rooney been allowed to dart onto another precise Giggs pass at the end of a one-sided opening period, United would have had the victory they craved wrapped up with half the game remaining.
Instead, a very marginal offside decision went against them, as did a failure to convert a series of excellent chances, the best of which fell to Giggs.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the provider with a low cross from the right. Giggs' deft chip sailed over James but bounced agonisingly wide of the post.
Substitute O'Shea, who replaced Gary Neville shortly after Rooney's opener, had a header cleared off the line by Belhadj, with Giggs spurning another opportunity after Rooney had sent him through, United's stand-in skipper firing straight at James.
The half-time introduction of Jermaine Pennant brought some pace to Portsmouth's forward line. The problem for Pompey was they struggled to get into an area where it might be exploited.
On the one occasion they did, Glen Johnson was the provider. But Van der Sar read his idea and pushed the England defender's low cross away from Peter Crouch.
Van der Sar was one of nine changes to Ferguson's controversial FA Cup semi-final line-up, which lost on penalties to Everton on Sunday.
Urgency
Yet still the United manager could afford to leave Rio Ferdinand out altogether and have both Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez on the bench.
In addition to Johnson's cross, Van der Sar had to keep out a mis-hit volley from Crouch and a header from the same man that was arcing towards the bottom corner.
Rooney would have restored a sense of calm if he had finished instead of firing straight at James after shrugging off the attentions of Johnson to reach Van der Sar's long punt forward.
Yet Portsmouth's urgency left Ferguson to conclude neither Carlos Tevez nor Dimitar Berbatov would be needed, bringing on Carrick instead to help steady the ship.
The tactic worked a dream, although probably not in the way Ferguson imagined as the England man collected Scholes' superb pass and finished smartly.
It left Pompey dangling precariously six points above the drop zone, facing a crucial trip to Newcastle on Monday.
By then, United will be getting ready to face Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League semi-final, with Scholes hoping another of those cherished title medals is within touching distance.
| Manchester United |
Team Statistics |
Portsmouth |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 12 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 6 |
Corners |
2 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
7 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 86.3 |
Passing Success |
78.6 |
| 33 |
Tackles |
22 |
| 51.5 |
Tackles Success |
72.7 |
| 56.3 |
Possession |
43.7 |
| 48.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.3 |
|
