Old reliables deliver for United

Manchester Utd 2 Bolton 0

With Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha sidelined for eight and four weeks respectively, the last thing Ferguson needs is to lose another striker.

But that is what Wayne Rooney risked by pushing Tal Ben Haim in the face a minute before half-time in retaliation for what he felt was a foul on him by the Israeli defender.

Ben Haim’s exaggerated reaction to the incident won him no favours but TV replays indicated contact had been made, which neither referee Dermot Gallagher nor his assistants apparently saw.

The disgusted Bolton players surrounded Gallagher at the interval to voice their complaints.

It will be Wednesday before the FA even get round to examining Gallagher’s report but the possibility of a charge and potential suspension for the second half of United’s festive programme must be high.

Rooney’s extreme reaction was out of keeping with the rest of a competitive north-west derby which United controlled without quite being able to destroy Bolton’s admirable spirit.

Giggs had put the hosts in front with their first meaningful attack, gaining early reward for another fine performance by acrobatically turning home Gabriel Heinze’s cross which had been flicked forward by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Welshman proceeded to rip the Trotters defence apart with a series of surging bursts, maintaining his impressive form of recent weeks. Giggs provided young team-mate Ronaldo with some invaluable lessons in the art of wing play.

Ronaldo appears to have been rejuvenated by his brief holiday and, just as he did on his debut in the corresponding fixture last term, ran the Bolton defence ragged at times.

Continually though, the Portuguese teenager was let down by a poor final ball and he did nothing to rectify the problem with a series of disappointing corners that either failed to beat the first man, or landed on the head of a towering Trotters defender.

Like Ronaldo, Heinze was also returning from a week’s break and the Argentinian was quick to prove just what a key figure he has become in Ferguson’s plans.

Apart from providing the cross for Giggs’ opener, Heinze was outstanding in both attack and defence, supporting his forwards with a series of energy-sapping runs down the left flank, as well as intelligently dealing with Bolton’s aerial bombardment.

After four successive defeats, Trotters boss Sam Allardyce had made five changes in an attempt to end his team’s barren run, including the sacrifice of playmaker Jay-Jay Okocha.

Without the Nigerian to stop, United were able to flood midfield and with Darren Fletcher’s legs offering the perfect foil for Roy Keane’s more measured contribution, it seemed purely a case of how many the hosts would win by.

Jussi Jaaskelainen has been touted as a potential Ferguson signing of the future, and while the giant Finn blotted his copybook by fumbling a Ronaldo shot round the post, he must have attracted the United manager’s eye with the save that followed, a flying one-handed stop to deny Keane’s rasping 20-yard volley.

But while Jaaskelainen did even better to deny Giggs near the end when the Welshman was sent clean through by Liam Miller, there was nothing he could do when Nicky Hunt pushed the ball into Scholes’ path a minute from time, offering the United midfielder the type of opportunity he rarely spurns.

It was his seventh goal in as many games, emphasising his contribution to the Red Devils’ cause, one that might be needed in a more advanced position should FA chiefs come knocking at Rooney’s door later this week.

MAN UTD: Carroll, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo (Scholes 69), Keane, Fletcher, Giggs, Rooney (Miller 84), Smith.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Ben Haim, Jaidi, Cesar, Diouf (Okocha 51), Campo, Nolan, Speed, Vaz Te (Giannakopoulos 69), Davies (Ferdinand 63).

Referee: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).