United close in on another title

LONDON, England (CNN) -- With just seven games of their English Premier League title defense left, Manchester United's grip on the trophy is firmer than at any point since they were crowned champions last May.

United's dominant 3-0 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday -- helped in no small part by the senseless dismissal of the visitors' Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano late in the first half -- coupled with Chelsea's 2-1 win over Arsenal later in the day means that United now enjoy a five-point gap at the top.

And while United's trip to Chelsea on April 26 now assumes all the more importance with the re-emergence of Avram Grant's side as their nearest challengers, Alex Ferguson's men have the advantage of knowing their destiny is firmly in their own hands.

Of course, with a home clash with Arsenal and a tricky away fixture at Blackburn among their other remaining fixtures, United manager Alex Ferguson was far too experienced to claim after Sunday's match that his side's victory marked anything like a watershed in the championship race.

"We've done our job but we're not getting carried away," said Ferguson. "You can't get carried away in this league, but it's a good morale boost, that's for sure."

Perhaps inevitably, the key moment in Sunday's game was produced by their outstanding player of the past two seasons, Cristiano Ronaldo, who had broken George Best's United record for most goals in a season by netting twice in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Bolton to take his tally to 33.

With Liverpool's 10 men looking increasingly threatening in the second half as they pressed for an equalizer to cancel out Wes Brown's early header, the Portuguese winger saw his shot brilliantly pushed onto the bar by Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina.

Moments later though, Ronaldo had the ball in the net, beating Reina with a header from the corner for his 34th goal of the campaign.

"His form is absolutely fantastic, there is no end to where we think he can go - He has got the world in front of him," Ferguson had said of the 23-year-old after the win against Bolton.

United's charge back into title contention has been far from a one-man effort though. Wayne Rooney once again carries the sort of menacing presence that made him a teenage superstar, though he still lacks the ruthlessness in front of goal that would make him even more formidable, while Carlos Tevez has provided busy support and crucial goals as the third prong in United's front three.

At the back the partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand remains as solid as ever while Michael Carrick and Anderson have developed a useful understanding in midfield, allowing the aging Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs to settle back into elder statesman roles.

"We've seen a team mature over the last six months and today they hit their high peak," Ferguson said after the win over Liverpool.

The constant for more than two decades at United, of course, has been Ferguson himself: a coach now within touching distance of an incredible 10th Premier League crown.

Such has been United's dominance of English football in the years since Eric Cantona inspired United to the league title in 1993 that it now seems extraordinary to think that United fans had been waiting 26 years for that moment.

While another Premier League crown would only enhance Ferguson's already spectacular domestic CV, success in the Champions League has proved more elusive for the Scotsman.

With the exception of their 1999 triumph over Bayern Munich, Ferguson's United have otherwise come up tantalizingly short in European football's top competition, with a string of quarterfinal and semifinal disappointments telling a dismal tale of underachievement.

With a quarterfinal to come against Roma next month -- a team they demolished at the same stage last season -- and with Ronaldo arguably the hottest player in world football, Ferguson has perhaps never had a better opportunity to start setting that record straight. E-mail to a friend