Manchester United celebrated manager Alex Ferguson's 50th anniversary of being associated with football with their biggest win of the season as they thrashed Stoke City 5-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal for Manchester United with a trademark free kick early in the 3rd minute. Michael Carrick doubled the lead for United on the stroke of half time while Dimitar Berbatov put the result beyond Stoke's reach with a third goal four minutes into the second half. Youngster Danny Welbeck celebrated his league debut for United by scoring a fourth goal six minutes from full time before Ronaldo completed the rout with another free kick in the 89th minute.

It was a brilliant response from United who were keen to bounce back from their defeat to Arsenal last weekend and were on the attack right from the start. The hosts took the lead in the 3rd minute after Carlos Tevez was fouled outside the area and Ronaldo smashed a brilliant free kick that swerved in the last possible moment to confuse keeper Thomas Sorensen.

United were dominating the possession but Stoke looked to have recovered from the early goal and were hoping to go into the break with just one down when Carrick calmed any fears of a Stoke comeback by doubling the lead in the 45th minute.

The match was all but over in the 49th minute when Berbatov superbly controlled Tevez's cross before slotting the ball past Sorensen to score a third. Welbeck replaced Park Ji Sung in the 63rd minute and the 17-year old smashed home a brilliant drive from well outside the area to score on his debut.

Ronaldo piled more misery on Stoke by scoring his second with another free kick to complete a perfect outing for the defending champions.