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MANCHESTER UNITED march on and you sense now the battle is for second place.
The champions sit comfortably top of the Premier League with that game in hand — and the gulf between Alex Ferguson's men and the chasing pack is just widening.
They do not concede and there are players all over the pitch who can score.
Right now, they even have the luxury of leaving some of their best players in the stand as they recover from injury.
Imagine what they'll be like when the likes of Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra return.
This is as dominant a team as boss Ferguson has had in his 23 years at the helm of Old Trafford.
The only reason they are not further ahead is because of their exploits as a result of being European Champions.
That involved an early trip to Monaco for the European Super Cup and the World Club Cup jaunt to Tokyo.
But you really cannot see how they are going to muck this up.
Arsenal are out of it. Aston Villa's ambitions stretch to qualifying for the Champions League while Liverpool and Chelsea have shown their frailties in recent weeks. Problems off the pitch have also dogged the latter two, while Ferguson's tight ship avoids any choppy waters.
A fifth 1-0 win in seven games suggests this was close but the truth is United never looked like losing and Everton never looked like scoring.
The latest shutout bagged them an English League record of 1,122 minutes without conceding a goal.
And Goodison boss David Moyes knew he was watching the champions.
He admitted: “United did some things in that first half that left me drooling.
“You are trying to find ways of stopping them and attacking them ourselves but you look at it and at times I was saying it's nearly impossible.
“I was looking and saying ‘well, it's very difficult, you've just got to hang in there sometimes.'
“Your goalkeeper makes a couple of saves, you hang in there and that's what we did. I think when you get on a run like they are part of them will be thinking ‘we're not going to give this up'.
“There's a real determination not to give it up and I think you can see that in their faces.â€
“They're all capable of doing so much. The way they have got here just shows there is so much strength in depth.â€
That depth of squad has allowed United to continue fighting on four fronts and to suggest they will seal a sensational Quadruple is not fantasy.
Often long unbeaten runs come about through lack of injuries and a consistency in team selection.
Yet Fergie has not enjoyed that luxury and has been forced to chop and change a back four.
He has, though, had a goalkeeper in Edwin van der Sar who is thriving in the twilight of his career. And in England midfield ace Michael Carrick United have one of Europe's creators supreme.
They also still have this lot — Evra, Rooney, Jonny Evans, Rafael, Nani and Anderson — waiting in the wings to come back from injury.
As well as a rock-solid defence, United possess an attacking array of talent that draws you to the edge of your seat.
On Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo made it 14 goals for the season from the penalty spot.
The Portuguese wing wizard's battered ankles skipped him through another game before giving his assessment on another win.
Ronaldo, who turns 24 on Thursday, said: “We played well in the first half especially. We created a few chances and scored.
“The second half was a little bit more difficult with Everton only playing on the counter-attack. Everton are not an easy team. But we are top of the league and that is the most important thing.
“I am happy with my season but the most important thing is that the team stay top.
“I have scored a few important goals and I want that to carry on. It wanted to do my job and help the team.
“The clean sheet record is unbelievable. Edwin deserves it. He is a great goalkeeper and works a lot for his age!
“I am happy for him and the defenders who support him a lot.â€
Ferguson is glowing right now with immense pride at the amazing 12 consecutive clean sheets his team have notched up. He said: “The record is fantastic. I could not believe when I read in the paper that the last time we conceded a goal in the league was against Arsenal back in November.
“I don't know how many times we have had to change the back four and every player who has come in has done their job.
“We have shown good concentration over those 12 games.
“The main credit has to go to Edwin who has shown great composure and used all his experience.
“Vidic has been a warrior too. But everyone who has come into that back four deserves credit.
“We want to keep the record of winning and keep our form going.â€
Liverpool kept up the pressure with their narrow win against Chelsea at Anfield yesterday — and are two points adrift.
And as Ferguson added: “We have an advantage now but it is not huge with still 16 games to go.â€
No, the numerical advantage is not huge, but the gulf in class is, even on teams as talented as Chelsea and Liverpool.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article2194030.ece
The champions sit comfortably top of the Premier League with that game in hand — and the gulf between Alex Ferguson's men and the chasing pack is just widening.
They do not concede and there are players all over the pitch who can score.
Right now, they even have the luxury of leaving some of their best players in the stand as they recover from injury.
Imagine what they'll be like when the likes of Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra return.
This is as dominant a team as boss Ferguson has had in his 23 years at the helm of Old Trafford.
The only reason they are not further ahead is because of their exploits as a result of being European Champions.
That involved an early trip to Monaco for the European Super Cup and the World Club Cup jaunt to Tokyo.
But you really cannot see how they are going to muck this up.
Arsenal are out of it. Aston Villa's ambitions stretch to qualifying for the Champions League while Liverpool and Chelsea have shown their frailties in recent weeks. Problems off the pitch have also dogged the latter two, while Ferguson's tight ship avoids any choppy waters.
A fifth 1-0 win in seven games suggests this was close but the truth is United never looked like losing and Everton never looked like scoring.
The latest shutout bagged them an English League record of 1,122 minutes without conceding a goal.
And Goodison boss David Moyes knew he was watching the champions.
He admitted: “United did some things in that first half that left me drooling.
“You are trying to find ways of stopping them and attacking them ourselves but you look at it and at times I was saying it's nearly impossible.
“I was looking and saying ‘well, it's very difficult, you've just got to hang in there sometimes.'
“Your goalkeeper makes a couple of saves, you hang in there and that's what we did. I think when you get on a run like they are part of them will be thinking ‘we're not going to give this up'.
“There's a real determination not to give it up and I think you can see that in their faces.â€
“They're all capable of doing so much. The way they have got here just shows there is so much strength in depth.â€
That depth of squad has allowed United to continue fighting on four fronts and to suggest they will seal a sensational Quadruple is not fantasy.
Often long unbeaten runs come about through lack of injuries and a consistency in team selection.
Yet Fergie has not enjoyed that luxury and has been forced to chop and change a back four.
He has, though, had a goalkeeper in Edwin van der Sar who is thriving in the twilight of his career. And in England midfield ace Michael Carrick United have one of Europe's creators supreme.
They also still have this lot — Evra, Rooney, Jonny Evans, Rafael, Nani and Anderson — waiting in the wings to come back from injury.
As well as a rock-solid defence, United possess an attacking array of talent that draws you to the edge of your seat.
On Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo made it 14 goals for the season from the penalty spot.
The Portuguese wing wizard's battered ankles skipped him through another game before giving his assessment on another win.
Ronaldo, who turns 24 on Thursday, said: “We played well in the first half especially. We created a few chances and scored.
“The second half was a little bit more difficult with Everton only playing on the counter-attack. Everton are not an easy team. But we are top of the league and that is the most important thing.
“I am happy with my season but the most important thing is that the team stay top.
“I have scored a few important goals and I want that to carry on. It wanted to do my job and help the team.
“The clean sheet record is unbelievable. Edwin deserves it. He is a great goalkeeper and works a lot for his age!
“I am happy for him and the defenders who support him a lot.â€
Ferguson is glowing right now with immense pride at the amazing 12 consecutive clean sheets his team have notched up. He said: “The record is fantastic. I could not believe when I read in the paper that the last time we conceded a goal in the league was against Arsenal back in November.
“I don't know how many times we have had to change the back four and every player who has come in has done their job.
“We have shown good concentration over those 12 games.
“The main credit has to go to Edwin who has shown great composure and used all his experience.
“Vidic has been a warrior too. But everyone who has come into that back four deserves credit.
“We want to keep the record of winning and keep our form going.â€
Liverpool kept up the pressure with their narrow win against Chelsea at Anfield yesterday — and are two points adrift.
And as Ferguson added: “We have an advantage now but it is not huge with still 16 games to go.â€
No, the numerical advantage is not huge, but the gulf in class is, even on teams as talented as Chelsea and Liverpool.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article2194030.ece
