Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung grabbed two goals each as Manchester United beat Bolton 4-1 on Saturday to retain a six-point lead over Chelsea at the top of the Premiership.
Chelsea made equally light work of Sheffield United, with goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and Michael Ballack allowing the champions to cruise to a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
But with only eight games left in the title run-in, time is running short for Jose Mourinho's men. United's superior goal difference means they will almost certainly be champions for the first time since 2003 if they win six of their remaining matches.
PHOTO: AP
"There is nothing we can do about them, we can only win our games," Mourinho admitted with an air of resignation.
At Old Trafford, South Korean midfielder Park scored two close-range efforts to go with Rooney's superbly-taken opener as United killed the lunchtime contest in the space of 11 first-half minutes.
Rooney, United's only fully fit forward, added his second with another brilliant finish a quarter of an hour from the end, but the real architect of the victory was Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese winger made United's first three goals before making way for Alan Smith to make his first Premiership appearance since breaking a leg and dislocating an ankle in February last year.
The one negative point for United manager Alex Ferguson was an ankle ligament injury for Gary Neville that will sideline his captain for at least three weeks.
But the Scot shrugged off that setback.
"To score four goals at home at this stage of the season is tremendous," Ferguson said. "It emphasizes the confidence running through the team."
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