Solskjaer stars in demolition

Like any self-respecting member of the working class who makes it to the top Alex Ferguson is careful never to forget either his past or those individuals who were around when his destiny was being shaped back in the devil-may-care days.

Manchester United's manager and his Everton counterpart Walter Smith go back a long way, which partly explains why he was so charitable when asked for his observations on Everton's minimal, almost subliminal, contribution to a game which boasted all the competitive edge but none of the intrigue of a midsummer training session.

Midway through the first half Everton's prodigiously gifted striker Francis Jeffers rose smartly to head a Nick Barmby cross against the inside of a post.

If the ball had bounced into rather than away from the net, the Merseysiders would have been two goals to the good because Jeffers had struck in the seventh minute, a nice finish after neat work by John Collins and David Unsworth.

As the manager of a club with high ideals but a decidedly low bank balance, Smith has learned to be grateful for life's smaller mercies - that is to say he must have been pleased to come up against a United side with David Beckham, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke rested.

Indeed Ferguson's team played from memory and once the outcome had been decided, could not muster the strength to be vindictive.

Even so, it was all too much for Everton who fell only fractionally short of being an absolute disgrace.

"They didn't even have to work for their goals; we didn't deserve anything better in the end," said Smith, his face expressionless like a death mask.

Once Denis Irwin had steered in a penalty-kick after Richard Dunne had inexplicably handled a Paul Scholes cross, Everton were effectively done for. Ferguson admitted that he had selected Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham simply because with Valencia due at Old Trafford on Wednesday for a Champions League tie, they needed a run-out.

Solskjaer inevitably uses such occasions to prove a point but this time, by scoring four times in only 28 minutes, his message on this occasion was somewhat less than subtle.

After twice exposing David Weir's lack of pace and mobility to steer home clinically, he glanced in a fabulous header before penning the afternoon's final chapter with a close-range finish.

Manchester United: Bosnich (Van Der Gouw 8), G Neville, Stam, Silvestre (P Neville 64), Irwin, Scholes, Butt, Keane, Giggs (Cole 64), Sheringham, Solskjaer. Subs Not Used: Beckham, Yorke. Booked: Butt. Goals: Irwin 26 pen, Solskjaer 29, 43, 52, 58.

Everton: Gerrard, Dunne (Ball 63), Weir, Gough, Unsworth, Barmby (Cleland 63), Xavier, Collins, Pembridge (Grant 80), Jeffers, Campbell. Subs Not Used: Jevons, Simonsen. Booked: Weir. Goals: Jeffers 7.

Referee: G Poll (Tring).