Manchester U 3 Chelsea 1:THE TWO most powerful teams in the land in recent years combined to put on an enthralling spectacle of frailty. Chelsea, in view of the result, might look second rate. They were indeed inferior but Manchester United's lead would have been trimmed had Fernando Torres not declined to take his second goal of the afternoon. Having carried a Ramires pass away from the Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea he somehow shot wide in the 83rd minute.

United’s 3-1 advantage was therefore undisturbed. Even so, Torres had not really added a new episode to the stories of his tribulations at Chelsea. He ought to be remembered best for the instant of perfect confidence when he took a through ball from the substitute Nicolas Anelka and flighted the ball home with a sure, right-footed finish.

Alex Ferguson, of course, can still live happily with this occasion and all the more so when a two-point lead over Manchester City was opened up in the Premier League. Chelsea have been beaten for the fourth time in a row by United, yet Andre Villas-Boas has no cause to dwell on that statistic.

As a man without any obligations to the club’s history and many of the people in the line-up who shaped it, he had no compunction about withdrawing a person seen as a focal point of the side.

At 33, it will be hard for Frank Lampard to retain such status. Employed in a relatively defensive midfield role, as he was here, it is impossible for him to make enough of a contribution. If, on the other hand, he lacks the drive to come through and score as often as he once did, the England midfielder cannot contribute the goals that have been the core of his value.

Chelsea, as a whole, may have left the north-west with at least a trace of encouragement.

However the visitors could have conceded a fourth goal but referee, Phil Dowd, awarded no penalty in the 77th minute because he judged the ball had just gone out of play before Ashley Cole caught and injured Javier Hernandez with his challenge. After the match, Ferguson described the tackle as “shocking”.

But United need not brood because they are victorious. While it is understood Chelsea have some players in the latter stages of their careers, the experience has made up for the decline until now. In this game, though, the vivacity of the hosts did them harm.

Villas-Boas has much further to go in the transfer market and in the promotion of younger players on the Chelsea staff before the essential dynamism is visible in all the areas of the side.

Torres could help in the revitalisation. This was his second goal for the club since the €58 million move from Liverpool in January but the burden of that recent past looked as if it had been lifted from him, even though he was so wasteful seven minutes from the close. Fallibility was all the rage. Wayne Rooney wasted a penalty. Having struck the bar, Nani was brought down by Jose Bosingwa in the panic that ensued. Rooney then lost his footing as he miskicked the spot-kick wide in the 56th minute.

United’s assumption of a new identity is taken for granted merely because they top the table but there should be a pause to appreciate how uncanny it is that a newcomer such as Phil Jones and Jonny Evans, a centre-half hitherto viewed as cover for the real defenders Ferguson needs, are thriving. Chris Smalling is a right-back now but he still retained overtones of his former life as a centre half when he was in the centre of the goalmouth and, it appeared, in a marginally offside position as he headed an Ashley Young set-piece into the net after eight minutes.

Torres ought to have levelled four minutes later after Anderson inadvertently gave him the ball but the Spaniard missed the target.

United led 2-0 following a splendid 20-yarder from Nani and, on the verge of the interval John Terry crashed a clearance against the winger, with the ball running to Rooney for a simple finish. Despite United’s solid lead, the game seldom paused and Ashley Cole was on the goalline to clear a shot from the substitute Dimitar Berbatov in stoppage time.

Chelsea, for their part, would have tied the score at 1-1 in the 26th minute had Ramires’s shot not hit De Gea after a Torres pass. This was a day with an erratic tone but Ferguson’s side, with all five league games won, continued on their formidably steady course.