Dimitar Berbatov's double allowed Manchester United to stay unbeaten and keep a tight grip on the Premier League with a convincing 2-0 victory on Sunday over a depleted Sunderland.
The Bulgaria striker nodded Wayne Rooney's lofted cross into the net after five minutes and also hit the post during a first-half onslaught.
Berbatov took his tally for the season to 13 - slightly fortuitously - when a 57th-minute strike deflected off Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand past goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
''It was a comfortable performance,'' United manager Alex Ferguson said. ''In the first half we were absolutely fantastic and it could have been any score.''
Still to be beaten in the league after 17 games, United holds a two-point lead - with two games in hand - over crosstown rival Manchester City, which won 3-1 at Newcastle.
''We are coming into good form,'' Ferguson said after a third straight win. ''We were solid at the back which is a good sign for us.''
Arsenal is five points behind United in third having played the same number of matches as the leaders, but the north London club hosts fourth-place Chelsea on Monday night.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce's hopes of beating Ferguson - his former boss at United - at his 16th attempt were stymied by the absence of seven key players, including Danny Welbeck due to the terms of striker's loan agreement with United and suspended captain Lee Cattermole.
While seventh-place Sunderland had lost only once in its last eight matches, the team was ripped apart by a speedy counterattack that saw United race into the lead.
Ryan Giggs released Wayne Rooney on the edge of the penalty area, and the England striker chipped the ball to Berbatov at the far post.
With Anton Ferdinand, lining up against brother Rio was in the United defense, presenting little resistance, Berbatov squeezed a downward header past Gordon at the far post.
From then, the visitors, who have beaten Chelsea and Manchester City already this season, were battered by a United side given the freedom to roam the Old Trafford turf largely unchallenged.
Rooney came close to scoring his first goal from open play since March after 10 minutes, when his chipped shot appeared to have beaten Gordon but crept wide of the post. He forced Gordon into making two saves before the break, but still couldn't find the target.
The goal-frame twice denied United from extending its lead in the first half: Berbatov hit the post and Anderson rattled the crossbar.
''We were too open and a bit too easy for them,'' Bruce said. ''But it's hard enough coming here with a full strength team let alone a patched-up one. Maybe I was a bit naive (with the selection) ... but there wasn't much we could do about it.''
Two days after Ferguson said Edwin van der Sar is set to retire at the end of the season, the Dutch goalkeeper had a quiet first half. But he had to remain alert immediately after the break, with Asamoah Gyan volleying over from an acute angle.
Twelve minutes into the second half, though, the second goal finally arrived.
Anderson slipped the ball through to Berbatov after the Brazil midfielder's initial strike had rebounded back to him.
From the right of the penalty area, Berbatov casually unleashed a shot that Ferdinand, whose own-goal here last season gifted United a draw, inadvertently diverted the ball into the net.
He could have claimed his third hat trick of the season in the 70th, but Gordon blocked a volley struck on the turn.
Sunderland did hit the target with 12 minutes to go, with Boudewijn Zenden's shot causing little trouble for Van der Sar.
''In the second half I felt we put the tools away a bit,'' Ferguson said. ''We just seemed to go into third gear.''
But Ferguson could understand why since United has to play again on Tuesday at Birmingham, which was able to rest Sunday after its match at Everton was postponed due to the cold weather.
''Birmingham will be fresh,'' Ferguson said. ''They have always had a strong home record and are difficult to beat on their own ground - we are aware of that. I will make a couple of changes.''
