Wolves 0 United 5

Five goals inside little over an hour ensured United would stretch the lead at the top of the table to four points as ten-man Wolves were dismantled almost at will at Molineux.

Antonio Valencia was simply outstanding on his return from injury and he added to Jonny Evans' opener after Ronald Zubar was sent off six minutes short of half time. Danny Welbeck made it three in first half stoppage time and a brace from Javier Hernandez proved to be the end of the scoring.

That was perhaps a surprise to many given the manner in which Wolves had been savaged, with Manchester City's superior goal difference still a factor in the title race, but nothing should detract from a third 5-0 win on the road in the Barclays Premier League this term.

After a spell of applause for Fabrice Muamba, following his shocking collapse in Bolton's FA Cup tie at Tottenham, there was a largely subdued atmosphere for the opening period with the home fans perhaps low on expectation considering their team's recent poor run.

It took nine minutes for the champions to tear a huge hole in the opposition defence but Rafael could not pick out a man in the middle after being played in by Valencia, the two changes to the XI that faced West Brom combining to good effect on the right flank for the first of many occasions.