End game near as United seize opportunity

Much like a millionaire finding a crumpled €20 note in a jacket, Manchester United thoughtlessly accepted their slice of fortune and got on with the business at hand.

The champions were already on top and passing their visitors — seemingly kept in their own half by an electric fence created by United’s high defensive line — to sleep when they were wrongly handed a numerical advantage and a penalty to boot after just 13 minutes.

Wayne Rooney clipped a ball through Akos Buzsaky’s legs and as Ashley Young, who had been in an offside position, scampered through to collect, he sensed contact coming from Shaun Derry and went down.

Referee Lee Mason showed the Rangers captain a red card — the seventh Rangers have received this season — before Rooney stroked in United’s 10th penalty of the season.

It was hard not to chuckle at Alex Ferguson’s suggestion the red card had not aided his team.

“It didn’t help us at all,” Ferguson said. “I was actually more confident before they got a man sent off in terms of speed of our play and movement which was very good. After we just went into a comfort zone.”

Predictably enough, the pattern only continued to greater effect after that breakthrough but United had to be content with adding just one more goal, thanks to a thumping strike from Paul Scholes, his third since coming out of retirement in January, midway through the second half.

The statistics of the run that has seen the Stretford End able to crow about City “cracking up”, just like they used to with Rafael Benitez, are just staggering.

Since losing back to back Premier League matches at the turn of the year, they have clocked up 11 wins out of 12, with the only points dropped coming when they fought back from three goals down to snatch a 3-3 draw at Chelsea.

“We never doubted we could put a run of games together,” Rio Ferdinand said. “You need momentum at this stage of the season. That’s the most important thing — getting a run of games together and making sure you get a run of games together. We’ve picked another one off and hopefully we can keep that going.”

There are many feel that this United team is nothing special, in relative terms, and they might be right.

But that sequence of results means they will be worthy champions when — the word ‘if’ ceased to be relevant a couple of weeks ago — they chalk up a 20th Premier League title.

With Nani still to return, there is a settled feel about United and if Ferguson had to go into a major final tomorrow, the XI that started against QPR would surely be the one he’d select, given the current absence of Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher.

Michael Carrick and the excellent Scholes were already in command when Derry was sent off for barely making contact with someone who had been in an offside position but Rooney was not about to turn down the invitation from the spot, firing low to Paddy Kenny’s right to open the scoring.

Rangers actually had a few opportunities. Adel Taarabt’s long-range strike looped up off Carrick and was tipped over the bar by David de Gea.

But that was the Spaniard’s only real work of the afternoon and United cut the visitors apart at will, with Young heading wide from a Rooney cross, Rooney having a shot blocked by Clint Hill and being denied by a fine save from Kenny before Scholes drove just past the top corner.

It was only ever a case of how many for the champions. Welbeck and Rafael spurned chances but Scholes soon doubled the advantage, collecting a pass from Rafael and thumping a shot into the bottom corner.

Carrick also saw a drive from 30 yards come back off the post but it was just another three points, as routine as it comes, for United.