Who's better: Manchester United's Untouchables or Arsenal's Invincibles?

Another perfect night for Manchester United enabled Sir Alex Ferguson’s team to move five points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Barclays Premier League with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford, a victory that was made all the more satisfying by a goal from Wayne Rooney with his first touch as he returned to action after a five-week absence.

Rooney had missed United’s past seven matches with a hamstring injury, but he scored within two minutes of his introduction as a second-half substitute, converting Park Ji Sung’s cross to confirm victory after goals from Paul Scholes, his first in the Premier League for 18 months, and Dimitar Berbatov.

Rooney is in contention to return to the starting line-up against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, when United could go eight points clear, but Ferguson may opt to keep him in reserve until the Champions League encounter with Inter Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday.

“It was his first touch, coming in late at the far post. I’ve seen him do that many times before,” Ferguson said. “He’s back now and hopefully he stays back. He’s 100 per cent fit, but at this stage of the season you don’t want to take chances with your players because, if you do, you can exacerbate things and they can be out for weeks, which you don’t want.”

The victory extended United’s remarkable sequence of clean sheets to 14 matches in the Premier League, with Edwin van der Sar, the goalkeeper, extending his British league record for shut-outs to 1,302 minutes.

Ferguson remains circumspect about United’s title hopes, recalling their experience of 1998, when an even bigger advantage was overturned by Arsenal. However, writing in the programme, he suggested that Chelsea had helped United’s cause by dispensing with the services of Luiz Felipe Scolari last week and that the latest managerial upheaval at Stamford Bridge was undermining Roman Abramovich’s bid to bring success to his club.

“I think they have played into our hands and that the title race now is going to be between ourselves and Liverpool,” Ferguson wrote. “I was shocked that Chelsea should part so soon with a manager of such great experience and proven success as Phil Scolari. Their haste is a reflection of the sad way the game is going, with everyone from owners, the board members, the supporters and the media demanding instant success and showing absolutely no patience in the pursuit of their ambition.

“I would have thought it self- evident that winning prizes comes with stability and long-term planning. Yet so often, when a club is faced with a few problems, wisdom flies out of the window in the hope that a new man can bring about a quick fix.

“Chelsea have called in a very experienced manager in Guus Hiddink and I am sure he will make an impact. At the same time, he has to start from scratch, perhaps putting together his own staff and gathering round him players of his choice, which may take him some time.”

Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager, had no complaints about the result last night. “What happened was no disgrace,” he said. “Manchester United are a very good team with a great chance of winning the Premier League.”