Manchester United moved five points clear at the top of the Barclays
Premier League after Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half penalty gave them
victory over Everton at Old Trafford.
The Portugal winger fired home in the 44th minute after the excellent Michael Carrick had been tripped by Mikel Arteta.
With nearest rivals Liverpool and Chelsea playing each other at
Anfield on Sunday, United sent out a clear message that their grip on
the title is as strong as ever.
Ferguson's side have amassed 32 points from a possible 36, which is
much better than the chasing pack and most definitely championship form.
The hosts dominated the match and racked up a 12th successive clean
sheet, allowing goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to break the English
league football record for most minutes without conceding a goal.
His tally now stands at 1,122 minutes having not conceded since
Samir Nasri scored in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium
on November 8.
In truth he will have busier afternoons with striker-less Everton having to employ midfielder Tim Cahill up front.
The pattern of play was established as early as the fourth minute
when Marouane Fellaini's foul on Carrick gave Ronaldo a chance to go
for goal from 30 yards but he drilled his effort straight into the wall.
Everton's Belgian midfielder committed his second foul at the other
end when he pushed over Nemanja Vidic in trying to reach Leighton
Baines' cross into the six-yard area.
In the seventh minute, goalkeeper Tim Howard had to get down quickly
to his right to tip the ball wide of the goal after Park Ji-Sung's low
inswinging cross was left by the Everton defence.
Howard then denied his former club a certain goal when he somehow
diverted Carlos Tevez's close-range shot over the crossbar as United
increased the pressure.
When Everton did get a chance to threaten, from Leon Osman's 17th-minute right-wing corner, Van der Sar claimed easily.
Cahill, usually so good in the air, was winning little of the ball
against Rio Ferdinand despite Everton's attempts to reach him at every
opportunity.
United, however, were having no problems creating chances and almost
scored in the 25th minute when Ronaldo's toe-poke from just outside the
area rebounded back off a post but as Tevez tried to convert the
rebound he was flagged for offside.
The Portugal winger came close again two minutes later when Howard tipped over a long-range shot.
Carrick was next to try his luck but his volley from the left of the penalty area was just wide of the target.
But United finally made the breakthrough in the 44th minute.
Carrick had gone past Arteta but the Spaniard hung out a trailing
leg behind him and it caught the midfielder, who fell in the area.
After a moment's hesitation referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot and Ronaldo despatched his shot straight down the middle.
Just after the interval Steven Pienaar won a free-kick off Vidic but Arteta sliced the 35-yard effort horribly wide.
Moments later Carrick should have been awarded another penalty when
he nicked John O'Shea's incisive through-ball past Joleon Lescott but
despite the defender catching him Halsey waved away United's
justifiable claims.
Tevez then blazed well wide from Park's right-wing cross as United looked to turn their dominance into a second goal.
The Argentina striker tried his luck with a low curling shot from the edge of the area but Howard saved comfortably.
United still had to be wary of Everton's set-piece prowess but Van
der Sar was more than up to the challenge of dealing with Arteta's low
35-yard free-kick.
The visitors' problem was that they had not really tested the United
goalkeeper and Moyes, who is currently without three strikers, had very
little available on the bench to change that.
The 68th-minute introduction of Victor Anichebe for Fellaini was at
least an attempt to freshen things up as Cahill dropped into an
attacking midfield role to allow the youngster a run as centre-forward.
And Tevez's deflected free-kick almost put paid to those plans with
Howard having to tip over the looping shot from under his own crossbar.
But there was still the odd scare for the hosts and Everton were
screaming for a penalty when Lescott went down in a wrestling match
with Ferdinand but Halsey was not convinced.
With those claims went the Toffees' hopes of snatching a draw - however undeserved - from the match.
Teams
Man Utd Van der Sar, Neville (Brown 56), Ferdinand, Vidic,O'Shea, Ronaldo, Carrick, Fletcher (Giggs 75), Park, Berbatov,Tevez.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Welbeck, Fabio Da Silva, Gibson,
Eckersley.
Goals: Ronaldo 44 pen.
Everton Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Osman,Arteta, Neville, Pienaar, Fellaini (Anichebe 68), Cahill.
Subs Not Used: Nash, Yobo, Castillo, Jacobsen, Rodwell, Gosling.
Att: 75,399
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).
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