Manchester United 4, Wanderers 1: That's three games Wanderers haven't played over Christmas.

The one against Middlesbrough was called off and Wanderers didn't turn up for the other two at Sunderland and Manchester United.

In mitigation, it was a weakened team at Sunderland, and Manchester United were awesome.

But Wanderers are not in the Premiership to make up the numbers.

They are supposed to be a force to be reckoned with and should have played like it over Christmas, instead of giving out gifts and points like some kind of footballing Santa.

They were well off their usual pace at Sunderland on Boxing Day and they never got started in this Old Trafford mismatch.

United were very good, it has to be said. But they were allowed to be by a Wanderers side which, when they weren't gifting United goals, stood back and let them play.

The only good thing to come out of it, is that silly injury time bookings for Kevin Davies and Kevin Nolan will mean they are suspended for the FA Cup tie at Watford rather than a Premiership game.

But it's a sad state of affairs when that's the only positive you can take from a derby at Manchester United.

The fans were in good voice but must have ended the game thinking they had wasted their breath.

Their team had three efforts on target all game: Gary Speed's goal, a well struck volley from Kevin Nolan which hit Darren Fletcher's hand but was never a penalty and a weak shot from Kevin Davies in injury time.

Wanderers caused more problems at the other end where centre halves Bruno N'Gotty and Tal Ben Haim proved the biggest threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen in the first half.

N'Gotty produced the first calamity with a shocking own goal after eight minutes, allowing Kieran Richardson's left wing cross to bounce off his stomach into the net without a United player within four yards of him.

If that was out of character for the usually reliable defender, so was the suicidal back header by Ben Haim which enabled Louis Saha to pounce for United's second goal a minute before half time.

Although Wanderers were still in with a chance of rescuing a point until Christiano Ronaldo's 68th minute third, that second one was the killer goal.

Wanderers had got back into the game once, through a trademark set piece routine which saw Abdoulaye Faye flick on Jay Jay Okocha's long throw and Speed arrive unmarked to head his first senior goal at Old Trafford in a career which is now into its 18th season.

To get back into it again was asking too much, especially with them playing so poorly and United playing so well.

It is a travesty that Wanderers failed to produce in the one game their travelling fans look forward to more than any other during the season.

To lose is bad enough, but to lose in such demoralising fashion is hard to stomach.

Those who deal in what-might-have-beens will argue it could have been so different had N'Gotty and Ben Haim dealt with those two vital situations in the competent way they do a hundred times a season.

And they would be right. Because of those two unforced errors, Wanderers never got a chance to put their game plan into action and frustrate United by suffocating their creative forces.

Instead, the game was wide open apart from the 11 comfortable minutes Wanderers enjoyed in between the Speed and Saha goals. And that's just the way United like it.

The Reds relished the wide open spaces, with the front four of Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Saha and Ryan Giggs ripping great big holes in the Wanderers defensive game with their speed of thought, passing and movement.

The United teamsheet offered hope that Wanderers could get something from the game.

United had four specialist wide players in the team in Ronaldo, Giggs, Fletcher and Richardson and not a single specialist central midfielder.

Never has the cliche about the game not being played on paper but on grass been more apt.

John O'Shea was outstanding as the sitting midfielder and Fletcher, alongside him, had the legs of the Wanderers midfield, continually probing and never wasteful.

Ronaldo was frighteningly quick and direct on the right and Giggs looked like his flying old self over on the left.

As if that wasn't enough, Gary Neville supported Ronaldo in attack and Richardson overlapped from left back, using his familiarity with the left wing job to good effect.

Saha made sure the surprise resting of Ruud van Nistelrooy to the bench did not backfire on United, the Frenchman's pace and control a constant threat and combining to score that decisive second.

When it comes to pace, however, look no further than Ronaldo. He tore Wanderers to shreds at will, clattering the post twice before poking home the third and running from the half way line before giving N'Gotty the slip with a couple of stepovers and hammering a low left footed drive inside Jussi Jaaskelainen's left hand post.

That came in the last minute and in front of a half empty stadium. It is a mystery why the United fans should leave in their droves when their team is on fire. Is getting home a few minutes earlier really worth missing such a masterful goal?

And then there was Rooney. Quite simply the best player in the world on this form, you couldn't blame Wanderers for failing to stifle him.

Even big bruisers like Faye and N'Gotty couldn't find the strength to match the young Scouser.

When you thought he had lost the ball, he'd get it back off you. But that wasn't very often, so sensational were his control, pace and vision.

It took something special to outshine Ronaldo's last minute goal, but Rooney eclipsed it with his assist for the third goal.

He brushed aside Faye and N'Gotty with strength and determination, raced away and showed vision, skill and unselfishness to flick a pass across the face of goal which put Ronaldo's first goal on a plate.

At the final whistle, the fans were left paying tribute to a magnificent performance by Rooney and United.

What is worrying for Wanderers is just how easy they made it for them.