For an hour at Old Trafford on Saturday, Manchester United supporters could have been forgiven for wondering if their season had collapsed in the space of two first-half minutes. No sooner had Nemanja Vidic, the pillar of United’s defensive solidarity, been taken off on a stretcher, probably not to be seen again this season, did Matt Derbyshire strike a chord with Chelsea fans everywhere by putting Blackburn Rovers a goal in front.

The United of last season would possibly not have recovered from two such devastating blows, but this team is a different proposition and so it was entirely appropriate that it was a player who best embodies the transformation in his side’s fortunes who should provide the kick-start for an ultimately comfortable victory.

Paul Scholes may have been overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo for much of this term, but his contribution has been no less startling and in any other year he would be a shoo-in for the player of the season awards. Like the Portugal winger, who was at his rip-roaring best yet again, Scholes has overcome adversity to flourish. As he danced past two defenders before shooting with sublime accuracy across Brad Friedel, it was hard to compare the Scholes of now and the one of 12 months ago, who had cause to wonder if he would ever play football again because of an eye condition.

Ronaldo was the star turn, but it was Scholes who orchestrated a victory that keeps United six points (and a superior goal difference) clear of Chelsea in the Barclays Premiership after the champions left it very late against Watford to ensure an anxious April for everybody involved.

Steve McClaren had opted against watching a game at the weekend and it was probably a good job because, had he been at Old Trafford, the England head coach would only have further cause to rue his failure to lure Scholes out of international retirement. In a week when the England incumbents have invited ridicule, it scarcely seems possible that McClaren is unable to call on a player whose Englishness seeps from every pore. On the football field, however, Scholes looks every inch the cosmopolitan continental the national team needs. Were you watching Messrs Gerrard and Lampard?

When Scholes equalised, there only ever looked like being one winner in a contender for game of the season, but for long periods it seemed as though Blackburn, and their outstanding goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, in particular, would breathe new life into the title race.

A hapless Wayne Rooney, picking up where he left off for England, had squandered two glaring opportunities — both superbly saved by Friedel — by the time Derbyshire scored and a raft of other chances went begging before United finally unearthed their shooting boots.

Michael Carrick claimed the second goal before Park Ji Sung and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer added gloss to a scoreline that reflected United’s complete second-half dominance, if not Blackburn’s gallant opening efforts.

Blackburn are one of the Premiership’s fittest teams, but United stifled them with wave after wave of attacks during a breathtaking final half hour. The “champions elect”, as Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, called United, have that air of “relentless efficiency” that Sir Alex Ferguson once used to describe Chelsea. Indeed, if eight goals against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn — games that Ferguson had identified as potential banana skins — are not a hallmark of champions, then nothing is.

“You can see that desire in their play,” Hughes said. “They’re not to be denied at the moment and that augurs well for them. I can’t see them being beaten between now and the end of the season and that includes when they go up against Chelsea.”

A tough test away to AS Roma in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday evening has suddenly become tougher with Vidic out with a suspected broken collar bone and/or dislocated shoulder, but Hughes believes the treble is still a strong possibility for United. “It’s a huge ask for them,” the former United forward said. “I think the title will be theirs, without a doubt. They viewed this game as really crucial for them, but they’ve been able to overcome us and you sense they will have a real go on all fronts.”