Chelsea keep their first clean sheet in the league at home this season but Wolves did not provide much opposition

The post-match party line was insistent there was no reason to revel in any sense of relief. André Villas‑Boas and his team had taken a first small step en route to recovery after a dismal sequence but, according to the manager, the pressure has not been eased and a dismissal of Wolves did not necessarily jolt the sat-nav back on course. “Wait and see” was the mantra trotted out, the caution cracking only once as he lingered momentarily over the word “finally” in welcoming this victory.

Chelsea have far sterner tests than this to come over the next six weeks, but they can approach the contests ahead reassured. After the comical home defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool, and the desperate late surrender in Leverkusen, this was a stroll. Back when Luiz Felipe Scolari’s tenure appeared to be unravelling in early 2009, the Brazilian had erupted on the touchline in celebration as goals from Juliano Belletti and Frank Lampard in the last two minutes overhauled Stoke. That frenzied finale was supposed to breathe life into his reign, though he ended up being sacked within a month. Villas-Boas will hope a calmer, more measured return to the comfortable wins of his brief tenure’s early days bodes better.

The manager was right to put this result into proper context. Wolves had arrived here depleted and with only one win in 10 leagues, and quickly felt like ideal opponents for a team whose confidence was brittle. The visitors’ own initial slackness invited a thrashing. Mick McCarthy had not set his side up particularly defensively, but his gameplan did not take into account Nenad Milijas dawdling in possession seven minutes in. Ramires robbed the Serb and, although Wayne Hennessey did well to turn away his shot, Wolves were still panicked at the resultant corner as John Terry guided in the opener. They had become obliging opponents far too readily.

That trend was reflected in their profligacy, too, with the home side’s jittery rearguard going unpunished for the first time in the league at Stamford Bridge this term. Better opponents would have plundered where Rob Edwards and Stephen Ward passed up. Even so, there was still reason for Chelsea to savour the saunter. Villas-Boas had been recruited to oversee a regeneration, and here was evidence of progress, his selection reflecting a team under development. Of the six players making up midfield and attack, only Didier Drogba could be deemed representative of the “old Chelsea”, a lone survivor outside defence from the José Mourinho era.

The key omission was Frank Lampard, the campaign’s leading scorer even if his four previous bookings were a plausible excuse for non-inclusion. Yet, if the omission hinted at risk, fears were allayed by the sprightliness of those picked. The local clamour for Josh McEachran to gain time in the first-team will be prolonged until Tuesday’s Carling Cup tie against Liverpool, but there was a first Premier League start for Oriol Romeu, and the sense renewed that Daniel Sturridge is now integral.

The Spaniard was tidy and efficient and, while he is no feverish tackler, he felt secure with his positioning canny. “He is not a player we have to teach how to behave in that position,” said Villas-Boas. “He always chooses the right option.”

The manager himself had that Midas touch before he arrived in south-west London, but his purchase of Romeu already feels shrewd.

Sturridge merely maintained encouraging form. If Chelsea’s campaign were to be curtailed now, he would be considered their stand-out performer, with the slippery Juan Mata at his shoulder. That pair cut swathes through the visitors and had the home support, so anxious prior to kick-off, distracted from Fernando Torres’s absence until after the hour-mark. The Spaniard remains the great quandary Villa-Boas seems no closer to solving, though he can seek to address the mystery of the £50m man’s form in the weeks ahead. This regime always required time to bed in. Villas-Boas has bought himself some more.

ChelseaDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk

Chelsea can mathematically overtake them but this was the day the London club stopped doing the sums

The victory walk began from just inside the pitch. Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to pick out his family first, waving to a stand that was almost shaking in its joy. Then the Manchester United manager strode along the touchline, before stopping in front of the Stretford End and doing something he has never done before. His was a theatrical bow, throwing his arms high into the air before almost touching the turf. He did it twice – and the crowd roared its approval.

This was the unique sense of euphoria that comes from overtaking Liverpool with a record 19th league title and the crowd recognised the moment. It had been an epic, lyrical match but now they could rejoice for real. “Are you watching Merseyside?” they sang.

Mathematically, Chelsea can still overtake them, but this was the day the London club stopped doing the sums. All United need now is a solitary point from their last two games against Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool. “Don’t even mention Devon Loch,” Ferguson said afterwards, and it was a sunrise of a smile crossing his face. “My dad backed that horse, you know.”

They did it in style. At times this season, by Ferguson’s own admission, United have justified what Didier Deschamps said about them lacking the “fantasy” of old. It has become the mantra to their season, the default setting for their critics every time they have won without thrilling. What you come to realise is that United’s audience is always the hardest to please.

But what football they played here. It was one of the more exhilarating, affirmative and brutal displays imaginable and, by the final whistle, it felt almost freakish that there was only one goal between the sides. Everything clicked. It was bewitching stuff and, as Ferguson took his bow and the decibel levels soared, Old Trafford reminded us why, half a century ago, a young Bobby Charlton ventured his opinion that walking out at this stadium, with the four vertiginous stands, all packed, and the sound of the crowd, felt like playing in a “theatre of dreams”.

Against Schalke last Wednesday it had felt strange to witness a European Cup semi-final with the volume turned so low. The people in charge of the music put out a medley of jingly-jangly United-themed pop songs and, worse, pumped out crowd noise through the speakers. But here, as Old Trafford revelled in of one of the club’s great 21st-century moments, there was the hard evidence that the best atmospheres are made, not contrived, and that there really is no counterpart for the sound of a football crowd baying its delight.

There were some anxious moments but, in truth, United’s superiority was barely reflected in the scoreline. For the most part, they dismantled their opponents. They played with spirit and togetherness. They were bright and inventive, full of hard running. They all wanted the ball. They also seemed far more pumped up than their opponents. Never before has Old Trafford witnessed Edwin van der Sar punching the air after making a save.

The half-time whistle had the effect of smelling salts for Chelsea. Their ordeal had begun before any of the players in blue had even a scuff of grass on their shorts. It was 36 seconds, to be precise, when Park Ji-sung played the pass that split open the visiting defence. What we know by now is that Javier Hernández, through on goal, is the most lethal one-against-one forward in the English game. He has 20 goals in his debut season and provides Exhibit