Premiership: Man Utd 3 - 1 Man City

Reports of Sir Alex Ferguson's departure appear, not for the first time and probably not the last, to be premature. At half time, with Manchester United comfortably ahead, the rumour machine rattled into overdrive about Marcello Lippi's post-match appearance at a press conference alongside Ferguson and United chief executive David Gill.

The idea that Ferguson might stand down in mid-season when his team possess a nine-point lead at the top of the Premiership is about as fanciful as Manchester City expecting to skip away from Old Trafford victorious and singing the praises of their defence of steel. There was no chance of either happening yesterday. And it was confirmed at the press conference that Lippi was present merely to announce a friendly match in March between United and a European team managed by the Italian to commemorate the 50th anniversary of United's entry into European competition.

Ferguson looked as though wild horses could not drag him away from a situation he is clearly relishing. Tipping pressure on to Chelsea might be a new experience for the champions and Ferguson is delighted to oblige. 'We're playing well and I think they know that,' he said. 'We can relax and watch Sunday's game at Chelsea and support the Gunners for a change,' he said, eyes twinkling. 'It will be a tight game between two great sides and I am looking forward to it.'

United were able to squander abundant chances and still see off a City team who made a contest of this only briefly, for about 10 minutes, after Hatem Trabelsi cracked the goal of the match midway through the second half with a swerving left-footer to make it 2-1.

Such a narrow scoreline was mainly down to United's wastefulness. A two-goal cushion by half time barely reflected the chasm in quality between these neighbours offensively. United's two young cavaliers, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, toyed with City's defence from the off and produced some marvellous flashes.

In the fifth minute, Ronaldo's supply line from the right flank was perfect and Rooney arrived to finish with deadly accuracy. It was the first of many chances for a striker who is drifting into dangerous positions so naturally at the moment. The thought of how he will feed off Henrik Larsson's intelligence when the Swede arrives on loan is exciting for United.

Louis Saha was more off colour, but he still managed to double the lead shortly before the break by bundling in Gabriel Heinze's bobbling cross. City were left cursing lamentable defending from Richard Dunne, who lost Rooney, and Sylvain Distin, whose fresh-air kick was partly responsible for Dunne's confusion. 'We gave goals away cheaply and that was very costly,' rued City manager Stuart Pearce.

It was not entirely one-sided, however, because Micah Richards and Georgios Samaras wasted half-chances, but the second period was mainly a case of more opportunities for United. City's substitute goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, whose form suggested that Nicky Weaver might struggle to reclaim the position, excelled in denying Rooney on a number of occasions.

Trabelsi's spectacular goal roused hopes of a City revival in the blue corner, but they were not helped with the immediate withdrawal of the powerful Richards with a dead leg. 'We could have turned the screw a bit more,' admitted Pearce.

Any anxiety that United might needlessly jettison precious points were ended six minutes from the end, when Rooney jabbed a pass to Ronaldo, who stabbed in the third. City's appeal for offside did not impress referee Graham Poll.

Nor did Bernardo Corradi's pitiful dive in stoppage time. The Italian striker was sent off for a second booking and Pearce, refreshingly, had no complaints. 'I'm not prepared to give you a cock...#8209;and...#8209;bull story,' he said. 'The ref got it right. My player went down cheaply and I will have a chat with him during the week.'

A comfortable derby win for United capped an excellent week's work and Ferguson has given his players three days off to recover. 'People expected us to drop something this week and it did not help that we had only two-and-a-half days to prepare for this,' he said. 'It's a bit unfair the way TV organised that. They could do better for us.

'We've had a tough spell and used the same players. But we have Park Ji Sung, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Alan Smith coming back and Henrik Larsson joining us next Sunday, even though he cannot play until January. So it is looking good.

'It has been a great week for us and hopefully by Monday morning we will be in an even better position.'

As for City, it is just a shame that Lippi was not there to help them out with some Italian-style defensive tips.