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Wayne Rooney returned from injury with an instant goal to cap Manchester United's 3-0 victory over Fulham that extended the defending champion's lead atop the English Premier League to five points today.
Five weeks after sustaining a hamstring injury, England striker Rooney scored with his first touch about 90 seconds after replacing Dimitar Berbatov in the 61st minute at Old Trafford.
"I am pleased he is back and off the mark," manager Alex Ferguson said. "We didn't take any risks bringing him back."
Paul Scholes put United in front after 12 minutes with his first league goal of the season, and Berbatov added another in the 30th.
That attacking potency combined with United's solid defensive barrier allowed goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to extend his British record run without conceding to 14 matches and 1,302 minutes.
The resounding triumph lifted United to 59 points with 13 matches to go, followed by Liverpool on 54, Aston Villa on 51 and Chelsea at 49.
"It's a good lead to have, but there is still a long way to go with Liverpool to come here as well," the 34-year-old Scholes said in a rare postmatch interview.
Scholes met Michael Carrick's corner with a fierce shot from 25 meters (yards) that goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer spilled and allowed to drift in the net.
"I don't think it was one of my better goals," said Scholes, who hadn't scored in the league since August 2007. "The keeper will probably be a bit disappointed he didn't save it. It's been on my mind a little bit that I haven't been scoring because over the years I've always contributed goals.
"The last couple of years I've been playing deeper, but hopefully that's the start of a few more to come."
Schwarzer nearly gifted United another goal after dropping Cristiano Ronaldo's cross, but Aaron Hughes spared the Australian's blushes with a goal-line clearance after Berbatov steered the loose ball goalward.
Carlos Tevez, whose United future won't be resolved until the end of the season, had a goal disallowed for offside before Berbatov tapped home after John O'Shea flicked on a ball from Scholes.
Another goal was ruled out before the break, with Berbatov adjudged to be offside with a header.
Fulham never looked like staging a comeback to register its first away win of the season - and Rooney made sure of that immediately off the bench.
The forward had not even touched the ball when he latched onto Park Ji-sung's cross and tapped home at the far post.