In truth the Wanderers where put on the backfoot as early as the first few minutes against their near neighbours and but for a short spell before the interval looked to be second best throughout the course of the ninety minutes.

United forced a couple of corners in the opening stages and where on top in terms of possession but the Wanderers defended well to ensure that those set pieces were not converted into goals.

Such defensive attributes where needed by Bolton in the ninth minute as Greek midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos was quickly on hand to clear Wayne Rooney's powerful shot from off the line.

However, on nine minutes disaster struck and the deadlock was broken as Bruno N'Gotty diverted the ball past his own goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to give the home side the lead after good work down the left by England World Cup hopeful Kieran Richardson.

Man of the Match Rooney showed great determination just after the quarter hour mark but the England striker's end product flew over the crossbar of Jaaskelainen after the Bolton defence had managed to distract the young United forward.

Louis Saha was handed a rare start for the Reds as regular front man Ruud Van Nistelrooy was demoted down to the substitutes bench. The French forward made the most of his opportunity and had a lively afternoon as he proved to be a good foil for the excellent Rooney.

The United strike pair both fired in efforts from long range but neither could sufficiently test Jaaskelainen enough to force home a crucial second goal and this was to come back and haunt them for a brief spell.

On 33 minutes Bolton pulled themselves back on level terms with a good equalising goal coming from a set piece. Nigerian playmaker Jay-Jay Okocha flung a long throw into the danger zone and Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye's flick on was headed home from close range by veteran midfielder Gary Speed at the Stretford End.

This goal breathed some life into the Wanderers for a short spell but the lack of service given to main striker Kevin Davies meant that Sam Allardyce's team would have a huge task in getting themselves another goal and in the driving seat.

United's movement at times often spelt trouble for Bolton and this was evident when winger Cristiano Ronaldo volleyed the first of two efforts against the Wanderers woodwork on 39 minutes after some unselfish play by Ryan Giggs.

Five minutes later the hosts found the killer second goal as Saha nipped in for his fourth goal of the campaign after some suicidal defending by Bolton's usually dependable centre half Tal Ben-Haim.

Ben-Haim sold his goalkeeper Jaaskelainen short with a defensive header to allow ex-Fulham marksman Saha the chance to give United the advantage going into the break.

The mistake by the Israel international was immediatly picked up on with Wanderers manager Allardyce hauling the defender off at half time in a switch of tactics which saw teenager Ricardo Vaz-Te introduced at the start of the second period.

Vaz-Te had been effective as a substitute in recent matches and Bolton where hopeful that the young striker would give them that something extra to silence the noisy Old Trafford crowd once more.

Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand headed a right wing cross by Gary Neville wide of the goal but at the other end the visiting Wanderers supporters joined their captain Kevin Nolan in protesting strongly to referee Steve Bennett after Reds midfielder Darren Fletcher appeared to handle a goalbound Nolan shot.

The decision by the Kent official not to award the spot kick came back to haunt the visitors as United increased their lead on 68 minutes through young Ronaldo. Some excellent play by the hard working Rooney and his fellow forward Saha was finished off at the far post by the Portuguese flier Ronaldo who was booked seconds later for his goal celebrations.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ji Sung Park and Gerard Pique where introduced by Sir Alex Ferguson's side at the expense of Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher. All three receiving standing ovations from the grateful home supporters.

Bolton themselves made a change when bringing on experienced winger Khalilou Fadiga in place of the tiring Stelios Giannakopoulos but in all honesty the game was over and the Trotters beaten.

This was confirmed in the final minute of the game as Ronaldo added his second and United's fourth when lashing the ball past a helpless Jaaskelainen who was one of Bolton's brighter players during the game.

The Wanderers must pick themselves up from this defeat for an important week of football which sees the visit of Liverpool to the Reebok Stadium in two days time followed by a trip to Watford in the FA Cup a week from today.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Tal Ben-Haim (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Bruno N'Gotty, Ricardo Gardner, Jay-Jay Okocha, Abdoulaye Diagne Faye, Gary Speed, Kevin Nolan, Kevin Davies, Stelios Giannakopoulos (Khalilou Fadiga)

Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Radhi Jaidi, Hidetoshi Nakata

Manchester United: Edwin Van Der Sar, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Mikael Silvestre, Kieran Richardson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher (Gerard Pique), John O'Shea, Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha (Ruud Van Nistelrooy), Wayne Rooney (Ji-Sung Park)

Subs Not Used: Tim Howard, Phil Bardsley

Attendance:

67,858

Referee:

Steve Bennett

Booked

Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye (Bolton)

Ricardo Gardner (Bolton)

Kieran Richardson (Manchester United)

Ricardo Vaz-Te (Bolton)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Kevin Davies (Bolton)

Kevin Nolan (Bolton)

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