Double vision for imperious United

Not surprisingly, the Aston Villa manager saw nothing at Old Trafford on Saturday to dissuade him from his view that Manchester United are perfectly equipped to win the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League this season.

United were imperious in dismantling O'Neill's gutsy side at a sodden Old Trafford.

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Mixing inventive, adventurous football with the organisation and solidity they will need in Rome tomorrow night — and beyond — Sir Alex Ferguson's team once more provided a model performance.

Domestically, it is difficult to see how they can be stopped. In Europe, they certainly have a very good chance of giving Ferguson the second Champions League triumph he craves.

O'Neill was generous and said: "Let me put it this way, there are three or four sides capable of winning the Champions League and United are certainly one of them now.

"Today they were absolutely terrific. Their play, their movement were terrific and they don't stop. They keep going. I'd say that they are better than last season.

"Cristiano Ronaldo has gone on to be exceptional. His goals are obviously giving him great confidence. He's going on to the field with much more confidence and so is Wayne Rooney.

"It is really hard to do what they are aiming to do now. Somewhere along the way even Sir Alex would admit you need a little bit of luck and who's to say they might not get a slice of that on Tuesday in Rome?

"Maybe Roma have an attack and hit the post and two minutes later Manchester United score. That's what you need.

"But that aside, Manchester United are capable of winning. They have a great mentality and they have a fantastic leader as well, so they know what it takes."

O'Neill set his team up to face the champions toe-to-toe. It was an admirable approach. And they got hammered.

After a bright start that could have seen Villa score, United took over. Ronaldo struck impudently and brilliantly with a back-heel from 12 yards in the 17th minute and then crossed precisely for Carlos Tevez to head home 16 minutes later.

Apart from a chance spurned by Shaun Maloney early in the second period, the game was over as a contest from that point on.

Villa never gave up and look a game side, but Ronaldo, and the workhorse that is Rooney, were insatiable.

Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick also impressed. Another Ronaldo flick sent Rooney clear for his first goal in the 53rd minute, a few moments after Maloney's error.

The same Ronaldo -Rooney combination set up the latter 20 minutes from time to wrap up proceedings.

What is so impressive about United right now is the manner in which they have been brought to the beginning of the run-in in such perfect condition.

No other team in England, and perhaps in Europe, can claim to have reached the most important part of the season playing with such confidence and assurance.

The credit for that, of course, must go to Ferguson.

While Arsenal have stumbled and Liverpool's domestic race was run long ago, even Chelsea carry an air of inconsistency about them. It is at times like this when the experience of Ferguson counts for so much.

The United manager said: "We were fantastic at times and the players are showing such great confidence now that it is terrific to see.

"I didn't see how Cristiano had scored his goal until I saw the monitor. It was absolutely marvellous.

"We reached a peak against Liverpool a week ago and we carried that on with this performance. We have just beaten two very good teams in the space of a week and beaten them well.

"We could have scored eight against Liverpool last week and were impressive again against Villa. Everything is still very tight and we have a massive game in Rome. But we are confident."