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United returned to the Premier League summit with a battling 1-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux all thanks to Paul Scholes’s 100th Premier League strike.

Scholes’s goal from 9 yards was the difference between both sides after Wolves sub Sam Vokes missed an absolute sitter in injury time.

Thanks to the victory United went 2 points clear of both Chelsea and Arsenal (who beat Burnley earlier in the day 3-1). This was one of those scrappy victories that Champions have a habit of grinding out when they don’t play at their best.

After extensive media pressure after their previous game Wolves boss McCarthy fielded the same side for 4 consecutive games and they matched United throughout the game.

United were without Rooney who wasn’t even on the bench and it was left to Berbatov to lead the attack. Valencia was his normal attacking-self but today his crosses where handled admirably by Jody Craddock and Christophe Berra.

Ward had a great chance when Jarvis found him unmarked 8 yards out in the middle of the box. His header however was tame and was an easy catch for Van Der Sar.

0-0 was the score at half-time and no doubt the players suffered from the infamous Ferguson hairdryer treatment. The result was that they came out with purpose and yet the Wolves backline was able to hold them at bay.

Wolves were finally undone by a careless clearance by Craddock on 72 minutes. Nanis’ cross was low from the right-side flank and Craddocks clearance only gave the ball to Scholes. Using his experience he took the ball away from the defenders making space for himself to get a clear shot to the keepers right and slotted it in beautifully.

Diouf who came on as a substitute for Nani should have killed the game off with a great headed opportunity but despite having time and space his header was lofted high. Another opportunity a few minutes later saw him take the ball from the half-way line catching the defenders off guard. As he advanced he had support from two United players but instead chose to shoot tamely and wide.

The misses could have proved costly if Vokes had put away his simplest of chances. Today, luck was on Uniteds’ side. They will hope to have Rooney back soon as on this display they looked disjointed without his leadership and work-ethic.

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