VIEW FROM THE PRESSBOX

The Guardian

Manchester United began the season yesterday with a flurry of goals that suggests they may not miss Ruud van Nistelrooy as much as their supporters fear. Whether they can maintain this level of performance without their most prolific striker since Denis Law remains to be seen, but Sir Alex Ferguson could hardly have asked for more than to score five on the opening weekend for the first time since 1966, the first four arriving inside the opening 19 minutes.

The biggest victory, however, is that the margin of success, and the manner in which it was achieved, may have readjusted the thinking of their supporters. It has been another difficult summer for the followers of England's biggest club and, for the sake of harmony, it was vital that Ferguson's players demonstrated early on that their title challenge may be considerably more convincing than in the previous three seasons. This they did and more, led by the superb Rooney and Paul Scholes. Ronaldo showed the Fulham fans he does not mind playing the role of pantomime villain and even the maligned Patrice Evra offered a glimpse of why Ferguson felt him to be worth £5.5m of United's money in January.

Ferguson is blessed with natural self-belief, yet not even he could have anticipated the ease with which United would swat Fulham aside once Saha had opened the scoring, seven minutes in, with a glancing header from Ryan Giggs' cross. The early breakthrough seemed to disorientate Fulham, whose defensive quartet thereafter displayed the mobility of a row of four stalagmites. United were merciless and the next three goals came in the space of three crazy minutes.

First, a sweeping move involving Rooney, Ronaldo and Giggs ended with the visiting centre-half Ian Pearce inadvertently diverting Saha's low centre beyond Antti Niemi. The next was supplied by Rooney after Scholes and Gary Neville worked a quick free-kick, catching the Fulham defence unprepared again. Neville's cross picked out Saha and the unfortunate Niemi saved splendidly only for the rebound to drop invitingly to Rooney. Elusively brilliant, Rooney then floated a beautifully weighted cross for Ronaldo to half-volley the fourth at the far post.

Conspiracy theorists were scrutinising the goal celebrations to gauge the enthusiasm with which Rooney congratulated Ronaldo and, if there is any lingering ill- feeling from the World Cup, the two players hid it well. Their link-up play was a significant factor in Fulham's downfall and Rooney reiterated afterwards that he had no problem with his team-mate. "People say things without knowing us," he said.

Such was the home side's superiority it felt slightly absurd that the next goal belonged to Fulham, Heidar Helguson's shot looping over Edwin van der Sar after a decisive deflection off Rio Ferdinand.

The biggest impression Fulham made in the second half was the imprint of Michael Brown's studs on Giggs' thigh. A callous, deliberate stamp was seen by Andre Marriner but, on a weekend of abysmal refereeing decisions, he opted for a yellow card, rather than red. An aggrieved Giggs was booked a minute later for a retaliatory challenge but his temper did not even come close to that of Chris Coleman, the visiting manager berating his players in the dressing room for over an hour and then refusing to attend the post-match press conference.

The Telegraph

With the Premiership season one game old, it is time to stop worrying about the relationship between Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. The way they sliced Fulham apart is proof you do not need to like a team-mate to play with him.

Before kick-off, Sir Alex Ferguson remarked that he admired the "open" way Fulham played in much the same way as a stoat might admire the way a rabbit ambles openly across a meadow. Afterwards he said: "This has been our best start to a season, especially the first 20 minutes, and we've had some good ones before." The only sourness in the display was a dreadful tackle by Michael Brown that stung Ryan Giggs into a reaction.

Forty years ago, United opened their campaign by putting five past West Bromwich before the interval and Sir Matt Busby ended the season with the last of his five championships. It would be tempting to make a comparison with Ferguson but as he reflected: "We are taking the long view of things but if we are up there in March and April, we will have a marvellous chance, no doubt about that."

As a player, Coleman was an international-class centre-half and as United shot his team to pieces, he stood by the touchline hands on hips, aghast at some ludicrously amateurish defending. He was not inclined to talk after the match and this was understandable. Had not Scholes driven against a post, Ronaldo squandered a clear one-on-one and the referee failed to spot a blatant handball by Liam Rosenior, the humiliation might have been worse. Heidar Helguson's deflected shot that struck Rio Ferdinand's chest and looped over Edwin van der Sar could not even be counted a consolation.

For most of Old Trafford's 75,000 crowd - some 15,000 more than Arsenal can muster even at the Emirates Stadium - the goals would have had a beautiful simplicity, not least Rooney's cross that picked out Ronaldo at the far post for United's fourth. From Fulham's point of view, they were the stuff of nightmares. The poignancy of seeing Coleman's son standing in the directors' box, yelling "Come on you whites" as his dad's side fell to bits, is hard to forget.

With Coleman still refusing to select Steed Malbranque because of a contract dispute, this defeat will take some recovering from. When his chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, took over the club he promised to turn Fulham into the "Manchester United of the South". On this evidence, they will do well to emulate Manchester City.

The Times

Grey skies over Old Trafford, but, for the first time in what has felt like an age, even the hardened cynics on the Stretford End seemed to be permeated by a sunny sense of optimism yesterday. They came in unprecedented numbers, an attendance of 75,115 constituting Manchester United's biggest at the stadium and, if this performance can be taken as a sign of things to come, that record will be quick to tumble as more supporters come to witness the captivating talents of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, those World Cup foes turned friends reunited.

Sir Alex Ferguson would counsel against getting carried away and he would be right to do so, given that his team were given more freedom by a wretched Fulham side than by any visiting team last season, but it should not be overlooked that United produced some marvellous football.

At 1.50pm, their season barely 20 minutes old, they were 4-0 up, with Ronaldo, Rooney and Louis Saha off the mark, and it was possible to buy into Ferguson's vision of his team emerging stronger for the absence of Ruud van Nistelrooy, sold to Real Madrid and not yet replaced.

Ronaldo thrived on the predictable jeers from the Fulham supporters after his role in Rooney's red card against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final, and was lauded by the home fans for his efforts.

With Michael Carrick likely to make his debut against Watford on Saturday, having missed out yesterday because of an ankle injury, United's midfield may finally be taking shape, but a partnership of John O'Shea and Paul Scholes gave them more than platform enough to overcome Fulham.

Saha scored against his former club within seven minutes, glancing home Ryan Giggs's cross, and, when Ian Pearce put through his own net and Rooney converted a loose ball with barely a quarter of an hour gone, Chris Coleman, the Fulham manager, must have known that it was going to be one of those days.

The final 25 minutes were a virtual non-event, save for the crowd willing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to score his first goal in almost three years, but 5-1 was a hardly a bad way to start for a team who scored only once in their first five home games in the Premiership last season. Top of the league, too, for the first time since August 2003. It was almost tempting to believe that the good times are back at Old Trafford.