Whichever way the clocks went, Manchester United were always going to be a step ahead of Barnsley, or split seconds in thought. It was men and boys; and the boys were mostly United's, seven of them under 23, chiefly home-grown, gradually fired in growing numbers in the league side and now proving themselves in the furnaces of Europe.

Barnsley may have pinched themselves that they were there at all. The last time was in 1970, when they lost 2-0 to Rhyl in a Cup replay. They even pinched a halfshare of possession, holding the ball with confidence if seldom penetration. But, when they lost it, United struck like cobras. The visiting fans, blinking too, defiantly chanted "We are Premier League". But each time they blinked, United scored another brace.

Three times they had two in three minutes. Andy Cole got the first pair and a hat-trick by halftime, the first by a United player since his five against Ipswich in March 1995, when Manchester United won 9-0. Neil Thompson was the visiting left-back then too.

Given the circumstances there was a sense of the bully about Cole, as he celebrated each goal of his hat-trick with a display of idiotic showmanship and shamelessness. With clinical precision Cole converted three gifted chances out of four, a hit-rate to compare with his best days at Newcastle. But his misses have cost United one European Cup final. He has yet to prove himself when it matters.

By contrast Ryan Giggs is at last showing leadership qualities; and his two goals reflected true virtuosity. Paul Scholes took his chance cheekily and only David Beckham had a pale game. But his substitute Karel Poborsky scored an impudent seventh with a back-heel that rewarded Cole's sharpest approach work.

John Curtis, 19, was introduced at right-back and, in such overall superiority, did not look out of depth. He is suggested as the next Gary Neville - and Neville is only 22. The United nursery has babes in the queue.

Alex Ferguson referred later to his side's gathering momentum and "complete belief in their ability". Barnsley, to their credit, had belief in theirs. It was just unavoidably less. They were in the Fourth Division 20 years ago.

Ferguson conceded that "apart from the first goal - a defensive dither - there was no answer" and "performances like that happen once or twice a season". He is a generous winner. Barnsley will hope they get the other one out of the way before May 10th, when United are their last opponents. United, with nine of the same players, made 10 chances against Feyenoord, too, and converted only two. They resembled anglers then, catching and putting back. On Saturday they bagged virtually the lot. Time will tell if their scoring problems are really solved.

The Barnsley manager Danny Wilson spoke of "hard graft on the training ground to get their selfbelief back". In truth they hardly lost it so much as defensive discipline. "There was nothing between the teams apart from seven goals," said Wilson. He was almost serious and, give or take class, almost right.

A week ago Barnsley beat Coventry after their chaplain had called on 140 churches to pray for them. He should have known that the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. At half-time on Saturday their fans sang: "We're going to win 5-4", amending it until 7-6 with half an hour to go surpassed their belief in miracles. United declined to respond with "Mind the gap".