Rampant Red Devils push on

Goals from Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick in either half saw Manchester United continue their push for the title.

Rooney and Carrick goals see Utd continue their title push

Goals from Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick in either half saw Manchester United continue their push for the title. The Red Devils got off to the perfect start when Rooney headed home an Antonio Valencia cross in the first minute. Carrick then sealed the victory with a fine individual goal on 56 minutes - his first in 70 games. He intercepted a pass from Joey Barton in his own half before running to the edge of the QPR box and slotting home. The victory saw Sir Alex Ferguson's side temporarily go to the top of the table before previous leaders Manchester City beat Arsenal 1-0 later on Sunday to retake the lead. United could easily have scored six against a QPR side who twice went close themselves through Heidar Helguson and also saw substitute DJ Campbell miss the easiest of volleys. The win put United temporarily a point clear of City and though Ferguson's men might have crashed out of the UEFA Champions League and Carling Cup, they have taken 19 points from 21 since losing 6-1 to Roberto Mancini's side, proving they will not give up their title without a fight. The Red Devils enjoyed a dream start when Rooney nodded the ball out to Valencia down the right before bursting into the box and stooping to head home the winger's cross on 52 seconds.

Desperate block

Only a desperate block from Danny Gabbidon prevented Danny Welbeck making it 2-0 two minutes later but United's vulnerable defence was almost exposed when Helguson's free header floated over from Joey Barton's corner. The game eventually settled down before a 18th-minute flashpoint saw Rio Ferdinand booked for hounding Howard Webb after a challenge on Rooney by Matthew Connolly. The defender's ire would have increased six minutes later when Welbeck was flagged offside after racing clear and steering in what he thought was United's second goal, although replays showed the decision was marginal. But Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Valencia ought to have made that irrelevant in the space of three minutes just before the half-hour. First, Evans nodded Chris Smalling's flick-on from a corner against the crossbar, then Jones - again deployed in midfield for injury-hit United - was sent clear by Rooney only to lose out one-on-one with Radek Cerny. Cerny, who performed heroics in the previous weekend's defeat at Liverpool, followed that with a great save thwarting Valencia from point-blank range, with Evans seeing his header from the resulting corner cleared off the line by Alejandro Faurlin. QPR almost made United pay when David De Gea saved Helguson's low strike with his leg, while Bothroyd was close with a skidding shot from 20 yards. That was enough to silence briefly the visiting fans, who mocked their own side's Champions League exit with a chant of "Channel 5 is wonderful" referring to their impending Europa League campaign.

Test

QPR ended the first half on top but Rooney took just 20 seconds to test Cerny with a low drive after the restart as United continued to look more likely to score the game's second goal. And they did just that in the 56th minute when Barton gifted the ball to Carrick, who shrugged off the attentions of Alejandro Faurlin and ran to the edge of the QPR box before drilling beyond Cerny. Rooney just failed to get a telling connection on a difficult goal-line chance before Jones was booked for upending Bothroyd. United were looking deadly on the break and Cerny tipped over Welbeck's curler before the striker was withdrawn for Javier Hernandez, who made a shock recovery from injury to start on the bench. QPR responded by throwing on DJ Campbell and Adel Taarabt for Helguson and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Jones sidefooted against the post with just under a quarter of the game remaining before the two Rangers substitutes combined when Campbell volleyed Taraabt's cross over the bar from close range with the goal gaping. Clint Hill then came on for Bothroyd for QPR and Giggs replaced Rooney, with Ashley Young also sent on for Nani late on as United easily saw out time.

Queens Park Rangers	Team Statistics	Manchester United
0	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	1
2	Shots on Target	8
8	Shots off Target	10
1	Blocked Shots	4
5	Corners	10
5	Fouls	9
2	Offsides	3
1	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
72.9	Passing Success	76.2
24	Tackles	23
75	Tackles Success	82.6
47.2	Possession	52.8
52.9	Territorial Advantage	47.1
377	Total Passes	432
31	Total Crosses	22
195	Lost Balls	199
55	Recoveries	61
46.6	1st Half Poss.	53.4
46.6	2nd Half Poss.	53.4