Goal.com's Ewan Macdonald looks back at those minutes that will live forever with United fans - and quite possibly give them yet another Premier League title.
Manchester United 5 - Tottenham Hotspur 2. It may look like a routine enough scoreline for a side en route to topping the Premier League table come the end of May, but in fact the path to victory was absolutely fraught with danger for the home side.
Yet, the fact that they managed to attain victory shows that their title credentials are, and always have been, not just genuine, but far in excess of any of their opponents. Liverpool and Arsenal may have gained plaudits for their 4-4 draw in the Prem recently, but it's telling that neither side could celebrate a win. For United, winning was inevitable, and a product of hard work, some excellent tactical changes and lethal finishing.
...oh, and a controversial refereeing decision too.
Spurs came into the Old Trafford encounter with relatively little to play for, but one wouldn't have known it as they raced to a two-goal lead in the first period. Faced with an out-of-sorts Patrice Evra, Vedran Corluka and Aaron Lennon were making great progress down the right, and Robbie Keane covered plenty of ground, ensuring that the United midfield had little peace.
That the Londoner's went in 2-0 up at the break perhaps flattered them slightly, given that Heurelho Gomes had kept United at bay at the other end, but the lead wasn't to last. That Cristiano Ronaldo penalty - one that Gomes will insist was invalid - began to redress the deficit. But what changed the game just as much was still to come.
On came Paul Scholes, and suddenly Spurs' leisure time in midfield had come to an end. Luka Modric began to be silenced, while Jermain Jenas and Winston Palacios fell out of contention altogether. It was all about United.
The fans were already smelling blood after the spot-kick and, with the midfield battle won, Wayne Rooney's second goal was magisterial. The forward had already been moved out left to accommodate Carlos Tevez, and this was another shrewd move on Sir Alex Ferguson's part as he drifted in to net a solo effort.
And then Ronaldo, the man about whom so much was said last year and so comparatively little this time around, made it three with a header; then Rooney's fourth and a (deserved) fifth for the much-maligned Dimitar Berbatov were the icing on the cake.
But the key points to take from this game were that United won quickly, and United won after making changes. That midfield alteration, coupled with the introduction of Tevez (and the associated moving of Wayne Rooney), changed United from nearly-men into deserved winners.
It's a shame that so much of the post-match discussion will focus around that penalty incident - a shame that could be averted by the introduction of video evidence, mind you - for today we saw something more than just a questionable decision. We saw a United side who are surely, surely destined for the title - and one that will have Barcelona (or Chelsea), not just Arsenal, very, very worried indeed.
Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com
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