Chelsea's hammering of Aston Villa earlier in the day put United under pressure to keep pace with the Blues, which they did thanks to a Jlloyd Samuel own goal in the first half, before Berbatov's second-half brace was added to by Darron Gibson late on. With a Champions League trip to Bayern Munich to come on Tuesday, Sir Alex Ferguson opted to give talisman Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand the evening off. Despite some superb approach play, United felt Rooney's absence early on, with Berbatov plowing a lone furrow up against the returning Gary Cahill and Zat Knight. Berbatov did force Jussi Jaaskelainen into action in the 19th minute, when the Bolton keeper kept out the Bulgarian's flicked volley at the near post. At the other end, Edwin van der Sar also had to be alert at his near post to superbly block Johan Elmader's drive eight minutes later. The first time United did get men in the box, they opened the scoring. Much to the hosts' disgust however, it was defender Samuel who applied the required touch to Giggs low cross, a sidefooted attempt at a clearance that inexplicably nestled in Jaaskelainen's bottom corner seven minutes before the break. Had it not been for a quite brilliant stop from van der Sar, Bolton could have been level almost immediately. Jack Wilshere's pass found Fabrice Muamba, whose effort from the edge of the box looked destined for the top corner until the veteran keeper flung himself to his right to superbly divert the ball to safety. Bolton rallied at the start of the second period but failed to test van der Sar again before United doubled their lead in the 69th minute. Darren Fletcher drove forward onto Ryan Giggs' pass before unleashing a 20-yard drive that Jaaskelainen found too hot to handle. The Finn parried the ball out only as far as Berbatov, who calmly rolled the ball under the body of the Trotters keeper. If it was not before, the game was over as a contest 12 minutes from time. Nani turned Samuel Ricketts inside out on the left, before squaring the ball for Berbatov, who neatly found the net with the outside of his foot, nutmegging Knight in the process. Nani was the provider again when the Red Devils added a fourth eight minutes from time, the Portuguese laying the ball on a plate for substitute Gibson to smash home, just 95 seconds after coming on. The victory puts United one point ahead of Chelsea and four ahead of Arsenal, with the Blues due at Old Trafford next Saturday lunchtime for a clash that could go a long way to deciding the destination of the Premier League title.
