Boss: It's Good To Be Top

United’s stay at the top of the Barclays Premier League may be shortlived, as Chelsea and Arsenal can both move above the Reds with midweek games against Birmingham and Aston Villa respectively. Nevertheless, Sir Alex says he’d rather be top than not.

“It could be important. It’s significant being top of the league at this point in the season,” he said. “Chelsea and Arsenal have games in hand, but you have to win them. We are in the right place. It’s good to be top of the league in January at the start of the run-in period.”

United’s goal-difference has significantly been boosted by this healthy win, even though at times during the game Sir Alex was not completely happy with the display. “The scoreline is a good one, so I’m happy,” he said. “We started very well, but I thought we became a bit frivolous in our control of the game. I thought we should have been hammering home the point, particularly in the first 20 minutes where we played really well. We took our foot off the pedal a little bit.

“We had some good chances to get further in front in the first half. In the second half you have to give credit to Hull, they kept going. Any team that is down at the bottom if going to do that – they’re going to fight, they’re going to scrap and be organised. That’s what we found. With 20 minutes to go they were unlucky with a chance that went just by the post. It was maybe a wake-up call because 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline when you’re at home.”

Wayne Rooney provided the magic – and all four goals – that was the clear difference between the two teams. But Rooney wasn’t the only impressive performer according to Sir Alex.

“I thought Nani was excellent today,” he said. “In the second half he hit some fantastic crosses into the box. On another day he might have made four or five goals. So we were very pleased with that. And I thought that, apart from a two-minute spell in the second half, our back four looked very solid. Rio Ferdinand’s presence, composure and balance really stands out. It’s a great bonus for us to get him back.”