Ronaldo ensures United march on

Man Utd opened an eight-point lead at the top of the table following a 2-1 victory over Blackburn.

But potential quintuple winners are made to sweat at Old Trafford

Manchester United stretched their winning run in the Premier League to 10 games as a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers allowed Sir Alex Ferguson's side to open an eight-point lead at the top of the table. Having won the Fifa World Club Cup in December, United have been touted as potential quintuple winners as they prepare for the Carling Cup final and remain in the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League but, despite Wayne Rooney's opener, they did not have it all their own way at Old Trafford on Saturday evening. The England international scored for the fourth league game in a row to seemingly set United on course to live up to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's recent 'untouchables' tag when collecting Nani's pass and slotting past Paul Robinson in the 23rd minute. However, Rovers were back on level terms nine minutes later as Andre Ooijer found Roque Santa Cruz and the Paraguayan rounded Tomasz Kuszczak, surprisingly selected as Edwin van der Sar was rested, to equalise. Santa Cruz's goal ended United's 1,333-minute clean-sheet record in the league and provided perfect evidence of why Rovers - who remain in the relegation zone - rejected Manchester City's advances in the winter transfer window. Ferguson's side almost found themselves behind minutes after the half-time interval when Ryan Nelsen hit a post, but United reclaimed the lead on the hour-mark through a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick. World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or recipient Ronaldo had been correctly booked for diving shortly after the break when attempting to win a penalty, but the Portuguese reinforced the positive side of his reputation when superbly dipping over the head of Robinson from the left corner of the 18-yard area. The three points allowed United to pile the pressure on second-placed Liverpool as Rafa Benitez's title hopefuls prepare to host City on Sunday.

Buzzing

Having gone so long without conceding, it must have been pretty galling United should lose their record in such a self-inflicted manner. First, Nani and Paul Scholes waited for each other to collect a loose ball on halfway, allowing Ooijer to step in and dart forward. After beating Patrice Evra, Ooijer then slipped a pass to Santa Cruz. With Rio Ferdinand closing in on the South American, there was little need for Kuszczak to dart out. The situation still seemed to be under control. But both United players then committed themselves to a tackle, allowing Santa Cruz to calmly continue his run and tap into an empty net. It was a run that had to end at some point of course. And at least Ferguson had the consolation of knowing his side had previously gone in front through Wayne Rooney. The striker had scored with his first touch following his return from a hamstring injury against Fulham on Wednesday. Handed a start in order to prove his fitness ahead of the European meeting with Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, Rooney was buzzing about in his usual manner. And when Nelsen stretched to reach Nani's cross and succeeded only in prodding the ball slightly nearer his own goal, Rooney gleefully finished.

Expectation

Nelsen had already saved a certain goal when he hooked the ball away from Michael Carrick's head as the midfielder arrived at the far post in the expectation of finishing off Ronaldo's cross. Still, the hosts thought they had regained the initiative at the end of the opening period when Jonny Evans - selected ahead of Nemanja Vidic, like Van der Sar an ever-present during the previous 14 games but banned for the Giuseppe Meazza trip - rose to power home Nani's corner. Referee Webb detected a push, either from the Northern Ireland international or Ronaldo just in front as a group of players jumped. It seemed a very harsh call at the time and TV replays only backed up that opinion. If Nelsen had seen his shot fly in instead of bouncing back off the post, Ferguson would have been complaining bitterly. Instead, with El-Hadji Diouf firing the rebound straight at Kuszczak, United were soon celebrating. The Red Devils have been waiting for a spectacular Ronaldo free-kick for about the same amount of time as their goal has been boarded up. Having lost out at one end, Ronaldo did the business at the other. Robinson must have been expecting a cross after Keith Andrews had sent Evra flying on the left edge of the box. Instead, the former England goalkeeper was beaten by raw pace as the ball flashed into the roof of his net. Having lost one lead, it seemed unlikely the hosts would do it again, yet Rafael Da Silva was incredibly lucky to escape when he put his hands on Morten Gamst Pedersen's shoulders in an attempt to get into a tackling position as the Norwegian burst into the box. Pedersen went down. Webb said no. On the touchline, Allardyce erupted in a rage and got involved in a heated exchange with Ferguson, with whom he had shared a convivial post-match drink at the same ground on Wednesday. The departure of Evans straight after Ronaldo's blinding effort was a major concern, with Vidic suspended for the Inter clash. Carlos Tevez's introduction at the same time was a reminder of the strength within Ferguson's squad, even if the Argentina forward is starting to mull over his long-term future. Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov and Rooney, on three occasions, tried to increase United's account - but in the end it did not matter.

Manchester United	Team Statistics	Blackburn Rovers
2	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	1
3	Shots on Target	3
8	Shots off Target	6
5	Blocked Shots	6
4	Corners	6
8	Fouls	21
1	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
81.1	Passing Success	65.2
15	Tackles	17
80	Tackles Success	88.2
65.4	Possession	34.6
52.1	Territorial Advantage	47.9