Paul Scholes sets the Manchester United party rolling

This victory took United five points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table — a lead that they will be expected to have extended to eight by the time the Merseyside club take on Manchester City on Sunday afternoon — and, to judge from the way that they dominated Fulham last night, with goals from Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney, on his return from injury, anyone waiting for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team to stumble may be in for a long wait.

Van der Sar’s record-breaking run, which stands at 1,302 minutes without conceding a league goal, has earned him the long-awaited acclaim of the Stretford End, who have begun to chant his name with some regularity, but, after this match against one of his former clubs, he would readily admit that he has barely had a save to make along the way.

After a series of recent masterclasses from Ryan Giggs, it fell to Scholes to claim the plaudits. The former England midfield player is a fading force, as can be gleaned from him tending to start matches against lower-class opponents only these days, but, against a Fulham team who gave him all the time and space he needs to weave his magic, he was majestic. He even scored the opening goal, his first of the season, with a well-struck volley, although it might not be an exaggeration to borrow Schmeichel’s phrase and suggest that a dustbin would have done a better job than Mark Schwarzer in trying to keep it out.