By David Hobbs
December 26 2004

Father Christmas had to dig deep into his sack to find the maximum 3 points that all associated with Manchester United wished for this festive time. Paul Scholes' late strike and Ryan Giggs' earlier effort sealed the vital points that keeps The Red Devils in contention for the title.

United Receive Christmas Present

Manchester United 2
Giggs 10
Scholes 89

Bolton Wanderers 0

Father Christmas had to dig deep into his sack to find the maximum 3 points that all associated with Manchester United wished for this festive time. United are now unbeaten in a string of 8 games.

Paul Scholes' late strike and Ryan Giggs' earlier effort sealed the vital points that keeps The Red Devils in contention for the title following Chelsea's 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal's 1-0 triumph over Fulham.

Sam Allardyce's Trotters have had a tendency to claim a few points off their Lancashire neighbours in recent years, but this time United stood their ground and cancelled out all other results as Bolton slumped to yet another defeat.

There were a few surprises in the team selections from the respective sides as midfield-maestros Paul Scholes and Jay-Jay Okocha were both left on the bench.

United were boosted by the news that Cristiano Ronaldo and Gabriel Heinze returned to the side after a short rest, however, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha and Kleberson were all still missing. 

Giggs broke the deadlock just before the 10 minute mark, firing into the top corner from 6 yards after some good work by the returning Gabriel Heinze down the left flank.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a run of long-shots saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen, who had been linked to Old Trafford in recent days, and continued to try his luck much to the frustration of his positioned team-mats waiting for a killer pass.

Wayne Rooney marred the first interval by showing his aggressive side, pushing Bolton's Ben Jaim in the face. The away fans and players called for Rooney to be dismissed, but was just warned by referee Dermott Gallagher.

United were as wasteful in the second-half as they were in the first, despite some relatively close efforts by Wayne Rooney.

Bench-warmers for most of the game Jay Jay Okocha and Paul Scholes were both introduced as the two managers looked to inject more zest into the midfield.

But it was only Scholes who could produced the goods, netting his 7th goal in as many games right before the end as fans steadily started to filter out of Old Trafford.

Scholes drilled home with his right foot from 20 yards to seal the victory with just moments of play left. The United faithful will be glad Scholes is on form as they had to deal with the news that Ruud van Nistelrooy will be missing for 2 months.

Final Score: Manchester United 2  - 0 Bolton Wanderers
Att: 67,867

Manchester United: R Carroll, J O'Shea, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, G Heinze, C Ronaldo (P Scholes 69), R Keane, D Fletcher, R Giggs, W Rooney, A Smith. Subs: T Howard, P Neville, D Bellion, L Miller, P Scholes

Bolton Wanderers: J Jaaskelainen, N Hunt, T Ben Haim, R Jaidi, J Cesar, E Diouf (51 J Okocha), I Campo, K Nolan, G Speed, R Vaz Te (69 S Giannakopoulos), K Davies (63 L Ferdinand) Subs: A Oakes, B N'Gotty, S Giannakopoulos, J Okocha, L Ferdinand

Refereed By: D Gallagher