Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United side are cheerfully showing the pretenders to their crown just why they have already won ten Premier League titles and are likely to collect an eleventh come May.

They are not yet playing with the swagger of champions, but the way United have risen up the Barclays Premier League in the past few weeks should fill their rivals with foreboding. United were eight points behind Liverpool when they travelled to Tokyo for the Club World Cup four weeks ago, yet they can overtake their North West rivals at the top if they beat Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Little wonder that as Rafael Benítez and Luiz Felipe Scolari are laid low by kidney stones and Chelsea’s great expectations respectively, Ferguson seems to be getting younger every day. This was a far from vintage United performance, but nevertheless, the sort of result on which championships are built.

If he was able to watch as he convalesced in hospital from a third operation, Benítez, the Liverpool manager, cannot have helped but admire — even against his better instincts — the grim defence that brought United their ninth successive clean sheet in the league. Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans were outstanding at the back. That they had to be says much about the efforts of their opponents, who fought back admirably in the second half and could have forced an equaliser. Ferguson’s description of Steve Bruce’s Wigan Athletic players as the best team to have visited Old Trafford this season was not as patronising as it first sounded.

Ferguson may have been stirring the pot beforehand by predicting that Wigan would present a greater challenge than Chelsea, though their performance vindicated his particularly spicy brand of Scotch broth. The tragedy for the visiting side is that they are becoming victims of their success, with Wilson Palacios likely to join Tottenham Hotspur this month despite the club rejecting a £10 million bid, and Emile Heskey, Amr Zaki and Antonio Valencia almost certain to follow him out of the JJB Stadium.

Bruce, the Wigan manager, conceded that this may be as close as he comes to achieving a positive result at Old Trafford, and they deserved something for keeping United so quiet. Had they not scored in the first minute through Wayne Rooney, United might not have broken down Wigan and despite dominating possession did not look like adding to their lead. Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo showed signs of their quality and Michael Carrick provided further evidence to support the view that he is the best passer of the ball in the country, although most of their team-mates appeared overcome with lethargy after Ferguson made five changes from the side that beat Chelsea on Sunday. Paul Scholes gave the ball away with worrying regularity, Carlos Tévez huffed and puffed to little effect after replacing Rooney, and Nani was just dreadful.

In addition to keeping his players fresh, Ferguson’s changes also represented an attempt to guard against complacency by giving others a chance to stake their claim, a precaution that hardly seemed necessary as United took the lead after 52 seconds. Berbatov released Ronaldo down the right, with the Portugal forward beating Maynor Figueroa and crossing for Rooney to tap in at the far post.

Rooney’s goals often come in twos and threes, but his night ended with a hamstring injury in the eighth minute. United’s energy levels were hardly diminished by his replacement however, as, if nothing else, Tévez is certainly enthusiastic.

Tévez’s commitment is appreciated by an Old Trafford crowd who again gave him a rapturous reception, but more influential figures at the club harbour doubts as to whether his honest endeavour adds up to much. The Argentina striker buzzed around as usual without offering much in the way of an end-product, other than to miss a great opportunity to double United’s lead in the 25th minute when he was one-on-one with Chris Kirkland.

Tévez gave Paul Scharner a couple of difficult moments in the second half, but otherwise it was all Wigan. Zaki’s shot was blocked by Evans, Heskey headed wide at the near post from a Palacios cross before the Honduras midfield player shot narrowly over the bar.

United were able to cling on for a result that could prove even more valuable by the end of the season.

Manchester United (4-4-2): E van der Sar — Rafael Da Silva, J Evans, N Vidic, J O’Shea — C Ronaldo, M Carrick, P Scholes (sub: D Fletcher, 85min), Nani (sub: Anderson, 59) — W Rooney (sub: C Tévez, 8), D Berbatov. Substitutes not used: T Kuszczak, G Neville, Park Ji Sung, D Welbeck.

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): C Kirkland — M Melchiot, P Scharner, T Bramble, M Figueroa — L A Valencia, L Cattermole (sub: O Kapo, 88), W Palacios, R Taylor (sub: D de Ridder, 81) — E Heskey, A Zaki (sub: H Camara, 75). Substitutes not used: R Kingson, E Edman, M Brown, E Boyce. Booked: Bramble, Scharner, Zaki.

Referee: S Bennett.