Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo set up three goals and South Korea's Park Ji-sung scored two of them as Premier League leaders Manchester United romped to a 4-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Ronaldo provided the cut-back for Park to score United's first after 14 minutes, put Wayne Rooney through for their second and then hit a shot which keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen spilled and Park tucked home in the 25th minute.

Ronaldo got a standing ovation from the Old Trafford crowd in the 70th minute when he was replaced by Alan Smith, who promptly set up Rooney for his second of the afternoon on the break.

Gary Speed scored Bolton's consolation goal from the penalty spot three minutes from the end as United notched their sixth consecutive league win.
The victory, which sent United nine points clear before second-placed Chelsea kicked off against Sheffield United, was marred though by the loss of United's England defender Gary Neville to an ankle injury after nine minutes.

United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports News after the game that Neville would be out for three weeks with ankle ligament damage and would miss England's Euro 2008 qualifiers.

His absence will pose real selection problems for the watching England manager Steve McClaren, whose side face Israel next Saturday in Tel Aviv and Andorra four days later.

The injury was the only cloud over an imperious performance by United, and by Ronaldo in particular.
His scintillating pace and close ball control took him to the very limit of the bye-line after 14 minutes before he deftly picked out Park for a powerful sidefoot home.
He linked up superbly with Rooney minutes later as the two forwards surged forward on the counter-attack, feeding the ball through for the England striker to dink over Jaaskelainen and claim his 50th goal for United.

PARK POUNCES
Bolton's keeper could not hold a stinging Ronaldo shot shortly afterwards and Park was first to the loose ball, steering it into the gaping net.
Rooney rounded off the scoring with a calm finish after galloping through on the break, the early kickoff's one positive for McClaren.
Paying tribute to Ronaldo, Ferguson said: "His season has been incredible, you can't put one game in front of another as far as I'm concerned because he's given his all in every game
.
"Today, particularly in the second goal, the combination between him and Wayne Rooney -- and his weighted pass to Wayne to finish things off -- was tremendous."

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Wayne Rooney's miserable few days continued in the form of two glaring first-half misses, but with his team-mates in such form, coming from behind to beat Blackburn emphatically, he was able to disappear for fiancee Coleen McLoughlin's twenty-first birthday party last night with his club still well on course for the title.
Michael Carrick, Park Ji-Sung and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer provided the decisive goals that earned United three priceless Premiership points, but it was the performance of the player who scored the equaliser, Paul Scholes, which was the rallying point for United. Few, if any, observers noted Scholes's absence from the England team as a factor behind their abysmal form this week, but Steve McClaren will be well aware of how his team could have used his services.

Even United's current injury curse - Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic the latest to be lost with a shoulder injury that will sideline him for four to five weeks according to Sir Alex Ferguson - does not seem capable of applying the brakes to United's triumphal march towards yet more silverware.
'I think we looked like a championship side,' said Ferguson. 'You would expect a championship team to show that kind of nerve, determination, drive, resolve. We had all that today. Everything you are looking for in a football team was there. There are just seven games to go - that makes me nervous now. But, without question, that was one of our best performances of the season and throughout the game they had a lot of handicaps. They had just come back from internationals, they had to overcome being 1-0 down, so to keep making chances and to keep their nerve and show their composure was fantastic.'

All true, although for the first 45 minutes, it was a very different United display, and one that had Old Trafford legend Mark Hughes daring to dream of another Blackburn upset against his mentor. Matt Derbyshire compounded such belief before the half hour as Carrick turned Morten Gamst Pedersen's cross against his own keeper and post and the young forward reacted sharply to open the scoring.

But the second half? It was a different story, much to the frustration of Hughes. 'They are champions elect and they are good value for it,' said the Rovers boss. 'This year they have played the best football, the most expansive game, and this game was a key game for them. They sensed that, the crowd sensed that and they knew we would give them a real test today. I feel we did that, to a certain extent, and I feel from this point onwards they will go on and win it comfortably.'

United looked like a different team from the kick-off after the break, Scholes orchestrating play in the centre, Ronaldo tormenting Rovers down either flank and an equaliser soon looked a formality. Hughes' mood in conceding it would not have been improved, however, by Christopher Samba losing possession on the edge of his own area to Scholes after 61 minutes. The midfielder skipped past Ryan Nelsen and Stephen Warnock before finishing convincingly.

That goal was the catalyst United needed to go on to comfortable victory and, after Brad Freidel saved superbly from Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs then struck the bar with the goal at his mercy, the rout was on.

In the 73rd minute, Ronaldo surged past Tugay on the left and his cross reached Carrick at the back of the area, who had the presence to steady himself and score with a precision finish.

Ten minutes later, Ronaldo provided the creative spark once again - his thunderous free-kick being parried by Friedel for Park to slot in the rebound - and, in the final minute of normal time, substitute Solskjaer appeared unmarked on the end of Park's cross to fire home unopposed and wrap up an impressive victory for the hosts.

'The reason United are top of the league and champions-elect is that they are able to galvanise themselves when they are struggling,' added Hughes. 'When they are struggling to find a little bit of form, they are able to get themselves together and go again. That's certainly what they did in the second half.'

Still, there surely must be some concern over Rooney's form over the past eight days. Twice, with the score goalless, the young striker had only the excellent Friedel - a strong candidate for man of the match despite leaking four - to beat but struck the ball against the keeper on both occasions. If United are to win the treble, which Ferguson insists is only a distant possibility, Rooney will surely have to rediscover his form.

Domestically, for the time being, there is no such need with his team-mates playing in this manner.

Man of the match Paul Scholes

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Paul Scholes will be the key factor behind what, if any, silverware United win this season and this match proved why. After an uninspiring first-half performance by his team, the midfi elder got hold of the game by the scruff of the neck and claimed the crucial equaliser.

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