Aston Villa 0-3 Man Utd

Wunderkid Cristiano Ronaldo put in a virtuoso performance by scoring a brace and a superb strike from Paul Scholes helped put Manchester United's Premiership title challenge back on track with a 3-0 win at Aston Villa.

The first half was a boring affair as United looked laggard and could hardly string their passes together. However, they bounced back in the second half to establish their championship credentials and maintain their pole position. In the 59th minute, Ronaldo capped a magnificent display by scoring the opener in the 59th minute and after Scholes volleyed home from 25 yards five minutes later, he wrapped up the points in the closing stages.

Villa continued their poor record against United as they have failed to beat them in the league for more than 11 years. They have now gone seven games without a win and for all their endeavours, it is evident they require an injection of quality in the January transfer window.

This is no doubt a big result after last week's disappointment against West Ham when United controlled the game,and should have won. But in this match, Fergie's men showed great determination to overcome Villa who lost their shape after the first goal.

Alex Ferguson must be counting his lucky stars as he kept faith with Ronaldo despite him becoming England's top public enemy after the World Cup. Right now, Ronaldo is the toast of the team and his incredible form this season showed that he is slowly maturing into a world class player.

With Henrik Larsson coming on board, Soccer Pundit believes that United has a more than decent chance of being crowned as the champions...