United unleash eight wonders to raze Forest

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be any manager's dream; for Alex Ferguson, he is manna from heaven. He has the face of an angel and the stealth of an assassin. He even favours silence when others would boast. Solskjaer almost redefined the time-honoured tag of super-sub with his `seemingly unprecedented' four goals in 13 minutes. Yet this self-conscious Norwegian refused to follow this powerful argument for regular football with words to back his case.

He slipped quickly out of the City Ground showers and on to the team coach, even declining a brief word with the Match of the Day team. Ferguson did the talking, promising Solskjaer a place against Fulham in the FA Cup next Sunday and then the tantalising aside that "we will be starting with him more".

Solskjaer and United had just been transported to the outer limits of their achievement. Incredulous as even the seasoned Ferguson was at Solskjaer's contribution and the club's record away victory, he was soon back on planet Premiership. "You don't think we're going to get carried away with that, do you?"

Dwight Yorke has already got that message and, publicly, sympathises with the manager's rotation of players, even if that ready smile slipped when he was replaced 19 minutes from time by Solskjaer.

After two more goals, amid another exuberant performance, a £12.6 million striker who happens to lead the Premiership's scoring chart has reason to be miffed. But Yorke maintained the striking rivalry was a stimulus.

"One of the reasons I wanted to come to United was because there was competition. You have to be on your toes. You would have thought Andy (Cole) and I had done all that was needed and then Ole came on and scored four. That's beautiful."

Ferguson would have purred at that, just as he must have done at the sight of David Beckham, rested last Wednesday, returning refreshed to demonstrate the range of pass and touch that originally marked him out as an outstanding player. If Ferguson's side was also altered in three other positions, the teamwork, at times delightfully intuitive, never suffered.

The crestfallen Ron Atkinson described United as the best team in the country by "a country mile".

Ferguson was equally convinced about some of its qualities: "It's the best display of finishing in my time at United and, in terms of goal potential, we've never been stronger."

The facts, as opposed to opinions, are unarguable. United have now scored 92 goals in all competitions this season and Saturday's win was the biggest away win in the seven seasons of the Premiership, shading, ironically, Forest's 7-1 triumph at Hillsborough on April Fool's Day, 1995.

As Atkinson said: "In a nutshell, we were murdered. They were quality all over the field. We said beforehand that we'd be bright and attractive, and there you are: a nine-goal thriller."

It is bad enough conceding a goal after 84 seconds, quite another to be taunted by your own one-time fans. Atkinson grimaced when he heard the loud chants of: "Big Ron for England" from the visiting hordes among the City Ground's biggest crowd for three seasons. He and his latest charges, now eight points adrift of the safety zone, are surely not long for the Premiership.

Forest's defence, with Carlton Palmer miscast at its centre, simply invited punishment, so often did they allow the admittedly mobile United front-runners to get goal-side of them. Having just equalised, Palmer and his colleagues were immediately caught by the impressive Jaap Stam's long ball that enabled Cole to set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

Of Solskjaer's quartet, the second was the sweetest. Released by Beckham down the right, he attempted to chip Dave Beasant and then from the rebound nimbly sidestepped the goalkeeper. Cole was waiting unmarked in the middle but Solskjaer's fierce shot from just inside the area justified the decision.

He looked almost embarrassed with his final goal which, unknown to the 25-year-old, was almost a gesture to less flamboyant times. He had just assured United of the biggest away victory in their history, that is if it counts higher than a win 100 years ago.

Then, as Newton Heath, they demolished Grimsby Town 7-0 on Boxing Day, 1899 in the Second Division. United were then the works football team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. Shortly United will be the works team of BSkyB. Somehow, it doesn't seem quite the same.

Nottingham Forest: Beasant, Harkes, Rogers, Armstrong (Porfirio 74), Palmer, Hjelde, Gemmill (Mattsson 57), Johnson, Stone, Van Hooijdonk, Darcheville (Freedman 25). Subs Not Used: Crossley, Bart-Williams. Booked: Porfirio. Goals: Rogers 6.

Manchester United: Schmeichel, G Neville, Johnsen, Stam, P Neville, Beckham, Keane (Solskjaer 71), Scholes, Blomqvist (Butt 75), Cole, Yorke (Curtis 71). Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, May. Booked: Keane. Goals: Yorke 2, Cole 7, 49, Yorke 66, Solskjaer 80, 87, 90, 90.

Referee: P Alcock (Halstead).