THE INDEPENDENT - SCHOLES SLIPS TITLE DRIVE BACK INTO GEAR
It is usually past Christmas before any Premiership race sees the best of Manchester United but the bold statements emanating from Stamford Bridge have clearly convinced Sir Alex Ferguson that his side's higher gears will need to be engaged earlier this year if the title is not to become a lost cause. The critical phase, he said last night, will be between now and New Year's Day.
Chelsea continued to lead at a testing pace yesterday but United delivered their own message, emphatically sweeping aside Bryan Robson's Albion, who had raised their own expectations by gaining a point at Highbury last week but here were dumped unceremoniously to the bottom of the table.
It might be argued that this was a predictable result but there was a ruthlessness about United, whose goals - two from Paul Scholes sandwiching one from Ruud van Nistelrooy - that their rivals would do well to observe with wariness at least. The gap between United and Chelsea remains nine points but Arsenal will go to Liverpool today glancing anxiously over their shoulder.
THE OBSERVER - VAN NISTELROOY PUTS ICING ON THE GINGER CAKE AS SCHOLES TAKES TWO
The good news for Bryan Robson is that none of the visitors to the Hawthorns between now and the end of the season will be his former clubs and that West Brom have a few winnable games coming up.
The bad news is that Albion desperately need them. After hitting the bottom of the table without even kicking a ball, courtesy of Blackburn's lunchtime win at Fulham, their day just became steadily worse. They lost their captain when Darren Moore was injured in the first half, lost their shape when Cosmin Contra departed shortly afterwards, and lost heart when shipping three goals in the second half. United were not quite at their best, but never needed to be.
If so, it took its time. United were as ordinary as their opponents for almost an hour. Wayne Rooney found himself being booed by the home crowd at the start, an interesting development in an already eventful career, and, operating in a crowded midfield, had few opportunities to make his class count again. He burst forward to rattle a shot narrowly past Russell Hoult's left-hand post midway through the first half, and headed over from Ruud Van Nistelrooy's cross five minutes before the interval, but rather embarrassingly those were just about
United's only attempts at goal in the first half. Though pressed back for much of the first half Albion still managed to carve out a couple of decent opportunities. Robert Earnshaw was not quite quick enough to react when Zoltan Gera picked him out with a pass between United's central defenders, but returned the favour a couple of minutes later, knocking the ball down for Gera to step around Mikael Silvestre with surprising ease before bringing a sharp save from Roy Carroll.
Albion supporters had been directing their hostility at the wrong man, however, for just as Rooney had been reduced to optimistic pot shots from improbable distances, Paul Scholes popped up at the start of the second half with what was unquestionably the genuine article.
THE SUNDAY TIMES - SCHOLES KEEPS UNITED FIRING
West Brom's biggest crowd for 10 years turned out, but had precious little to cheer about as their team were comfortably beaten by opponents who never needed top gear to claim all three points. The wine Bryan Robson and his former mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, shared after the game will have had a bitter taste for Albion’s new manager, whose team are back on the bottom of the table after last week’s uplifting result at Highbury.
They must be odds-on to return from whence they came, the misnomer that is the Coca-Cola Championship. United were ordinary for a long time, their passing ragged, but Albion were much worse, all semblance of form and shape quickly disintegrating after a promising start. They managed only one corner in the 90 minutes, and four unremarkable shots. The red legions sang the old ditty about Paul Scholes scoring goals, which is true again at long last. The former England midfielder came up with his first of the season against Charlton last weekend, and added two more of contrasting construction here - one a 25-yard screamer, the other a header at nodding range.
Sandwiched between them was Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 12th of another prolific campaign. It was a deflating afternoon for Robson, but the esteem in which he is still held by his Mancunian fan club was evident midway through the first half, when he got to his feet to supervise the substitution of Darren Moore and the United section of the crowd chanted: "There’s only one Bryan Robson." The home fans clapped their appreciation - it was a nice moment in an increasingly confrontational era.
Robson had no time to note the niceties; he was too busy trying to shore up a defence weakened by the loss of his club captain and centre-half. It proved to be a lost cause. Afterwards, he gave warning to the rest of the league not to rule out his former club for the title.
THE TORYGRAPH - UNITED EASE BACK INTO CONTENTION
Manchester United rarely come off the bridle in the Championship race before Christmas. But, having fallen so far behind in the opening weeks, Sir Alex Ferguson has been forced to aim a couple of cracks of the whip down their flanks, which has brought three successive Premiership wins for the first time this season. On the strength of this display, the run may still have some way to go.
Bryan Robson shared a bottle of wine with his mentor Ferguson afterwards but what he would have given for a share of the spoils. If the wine would have tasted good to Ferguson, this is not yet a vintage United side, just one beginning to regain their old hunger for racking up points.
The afternoon began badly for West Brom when Blackburn's win at Fulham in the early kick-off sent them to the bottom of the table before they had kicked a ball in anger. And it just got steadily worse, as they lost two players to injury before half-time and ended up totally outclassed.
This was the most comprehensive thrashing they have suffered since an identical scoreline against Liverpool and a 4-1 hammering by Chelsea and leaves them contemplating Christmas with more than usual foreboding. Aware that the club sitting on the foot of the Premiership table when the turkey is passed round has never survived, they have just three matches to avoid being in pole position for relegation.
Robson would have brought the biggest guffaw from his old boss last weekend when his side stole a late goal and a point at Highbury, providing an unwitting favour for United. But he knew there was little chance of him benefiting from a quid pro quo arrangement.