Portsmouth 1 Man United 4

United were ahead in the 25th minute through Rooney. Antonio Valencia burst forward and exchanged passes with Rooney, and when the winger pulled the ball back for his team-mate in the penalty area, the England forward waited for a clumsy challenge to arrive from Michael Brown. Dean pointed to the spot immediately and Rooney tucked away the penalty.

Pompey were level, however, on the half-hour mark, although why Dean awarded it was open to debate. Kuszczak climbed above Piquionne, who appeared to have his shirt pulled by Nemanja Vidic. With United in shock, Boateng smashed in the penalty after missing against Stoke last time out.

United were ahead three minutes after the restart. There was nothing controversial about this effort, just Giggs weighting the ball perfectly through Pompey's defence for Rooney to place his finish home, his 10th of the season for United.

His hat-trick came in the 54th minute, from the penalty spot. Piquionne was penalised for fouling Giggs - and Rooney sent Begovic the wrong way from 12 yards.

Giggs netted with a free-kick three minutes from full-time for their fourth goal.

Kuszczak (8): Had 2 good saves in each halves to help his cause in the keeper battle at United.

Neville (6.5): Tough duel with Boeteng, did not go forward much.

Brown (7): Did reasonalby well, especially with Vidic off-form.

Vidic (6): Is his mind in Spain, unsettled by Pompey attackers.

Evra (7): Penetrating attacking but defending was mixed.

Valencia (7.5): His pace is too much for Portsmouth to handle.

Fletcher (7): OK in first half, did better in 2nd half.

Carrick (6): Expected to be involved more.

Giggs (7): Good vision and experience.

Scholes (6.5): Did well passing forward, but held ball too long at occasions.

Rooney (8): Hat-trick.

Anderson (sub Carrick 76, 5) Did nothing much.

Man United 0 Besiktas 1

Turkish side Besiktas ended United's 23-match unbeaten home record in the Champions League. Rodrigo Tello's first-half effort did the damage, and goalkeeper Rustu Recber put in a brillant display to ensure United did not score.

Slack defending created the space for Tello to shoot after 20 minutes. The long-range strike itself took a slight deflection off Rafael Da Silva that took it out of Foster's reach and catch him slightly flat-footed.

Man United 3 Everton 0

Darren Fletcher scored a memorable goal as he launched Manchester United on their way to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Everton.

Although they were already well on top against the Merseysiders who, apart from a brief five-minute second-half flurry were completely outclassed, United were struggling to make the breakthrough until Fletcher fired home a magnificent volley.

Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia were also on target to complete the Red Devils' biggest win since August and ensure they heeded Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-match call for a more clinical attitude.

Van der Sar (7.5): Important brave save at the feet of Cahill and another good save from Rodwell late in the game.

Rafael (6.5): Excellent first half, especially when attacking. Lack of height showed in 2nd half.

Brown (7.5): Did well, capped by an excellent tackle when Saha was almost clean through.

Vidic (7.5): The same old Vidic, physical and committed.

Evra (9): Did his mate Park brought back some ginseng? Excellent stamina and great attacking play.

Valencia (7.5): He is fast, he is strong, he defends and he scores. Only setback is he is one-footed.

Carrick (8): Controlled midfield in a steady way, run into open space for teammate to pass and a well-taken goal.

Fletcher (9): Superb goal, industrious effort and great defensive play.

Giggs (7): Link up well with Evra and good assist for the 2nd goal.

Owen (6): Made good runs, but finishes and passes could not match the runs.

Rooney (7): Hassle the defenders and bring energy to his team mates.

Substitutes

Scholes (sub Rafael 63, 6.5) Good eye for gaps to make precise passes.

Obertan (sub Rooney 74, 6) Another cameo, ahead of Nani at the moment

Gibson (sub Carrick 82, 5) Make up the number.

Chelsea 1 Man United 0

Chelsea scored in the 76th minute when Ashley Cole was alleged to have been fouled by Fletcher on the left flank (which TV replays showed that it is not a foul).

Captain Terry (and Anelka) rose to glance Lampard’s free-kick into the corner of the net but United were furious that Drogba appeared to be in an offside position as the ball bounced beyond Van der Sar and into the net. Drogba had also pushed Wes Brown to the ground during the corner.


7 Van der Sar: Did well generally, Drogba was defintiely interfering with play from an off-side position by going for the ball that led to the goal and being so near the keeper.

7 O’Shea: Another stable performance. Made decent crosses while supporting Valencia.

7.5 Brown: Handled Chelsea's attack well.

8 Evans: Showed his agression, and that is what we need when Vidic is not in the team!

6.5 Evra: Out of position on occasions and no end-products when attacking.

6.5 Valencia: Ensured that cole did not attack too much.

7.5 Fletcher: Great physical presence, if only he could shoot better.

7 Anderson: Good display, need to make more forward runs.

7 Carrick: Covered lots of ground and disrupting Chelsea's play.

7 Giggs: Did well, but should have opted to shoot then trying to pass when in good position.

7.5 Rooney: Played well as a lone striker, more alive in the 2nd half.
Substitutes

5.5 Obertan (Giggs 84) Should have came on earlier, lively cameo.

5 Owen (Anderson 84) Not enough time for him to put in any decent shot.

Man United 3 CSKA Moscow 3

United qualified for the Champions League knock-out stages after coming from two goals down to draw with CSKA Moscow.

Alan Dzagoev put the Russians ahead before Michael Owen levelled with an instinctive finish. However, slack defending allowed Milos Krasic to score before the visitors' extended their lead through Vasili Berezutsky just after half time.

United were then denied what looked like a clear penalty when Darren Fletcher was fouled in the box - and the Scottish midfielder was booked for diving to add insult to injury. Federico Macheda hit the inside of the post as United piled on the pressure late on and Paul Scholes pulled a goal back after 84 minutes, heading home from Gary Neville's cross.

Antonio Valencia's deflected shot in injury time - which will go down as a Georgi Schennikov own-goal - secured the draw United needed.

Man United 2 Blackburn 0

United big guns Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney fired as the Reds defeated Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.

Sam Allardyce's men were proving stubborn opposition until Berbatov's acrobatic volley 10 minutes into the second half broke the deadlock. Wayne Rooney's stylish finish after 87 minutes sealed the victory.

Nikola Kalinic had a goal harshly ruled out for offside in injury time for Blackburn.

Van der Sar (6.5) Not much to do, did ok when called upon.

Evra (7) Got forward often but mostly no end result, only 1 misplaced shot turn out to be assist for 1st goal.

Brown (7) One miscued error that was not punished, otherwise untroubled.

Evans (7) Good game, need to pass the ball quicker though.

O’Shea (7) Good defending, but did not support Valencia well enough.

Nani (6.5) Decision-making is his main weakness.

Carrick (7) Tackled and challenged for ball for a change. Made some good passes.

Anderson (6) Lost when defending midfield, slightly better when attacking.

Valencia (7) Strong and pacy, help out defence as well.

Rooney (7) OK display and a good goal.

Berbatov (7.5) Superb goal, could have got a hat-trick if not for poor finishing and great goal-keeping.

Obertan (for Nani 63, 5.5) Did not take his chances well, decent pace.

Owen (for Berbatov 79, 6) Lively and could have scored.