Manchester United secured one of their most comfortable wins in recent matches against Manchester City to restore their three point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Liverpool's win over West Ham had seen the defending champions once again slip down from the top of the table but were keen to tighten their grip on the Premier League crown. Park Ji Sung had a great chance to put United in an early lead when he was played in by Cristiano Ronaldo but the South Korean international hit just wide of the target.

With City struggling to cope with United's passing it was not long before the hosts were in the lead and it came through a lucky break for Alex Ferguson's side. Dimitar Berbatov was fouled by Stephen Ireland 25 yards from the target and Ronaldo's free kick took a lucky deflection off Nigel de Jong and into the net.

City's best chance of the match fell to Robinho who had a great chance to pull his side back on level terms but somehow managed to shoot wide of the target from just 12 yards out. United were tightening the screw with Carlos Tevez hitting the bar with a brilliant shot from outside the area.

The Argentine international was not to be denied though as he latched on to the possession thanks to some slick passing move and let fly a stinging drive that went in off the bar giving rise to chants from the Old Trafford faithful urging their manager to sign up the player.

The visitors tried to stage a comeback in the second half but were lacking creativity in the midfield and instead it was United who went close to scoring a third with Tevez once again hitting the bar with a header.