Gary Neville is delighted Manchester United have their Premier League title bid in their own hands and praying Wayne Rooney continues his form.
United moved back to the top of the table with a 5-0 win over Portsmouth and, although Chelsea can reclaim pole position later on Sunday, the champions' fate is in their own hands with Carlo Ancelotti's side still to visit Old Trafford.
United have predictably found their form at the right time, winning six of their last seven league games and drawing the other, and Neville could not be happier.
"It is in our hands now and it has not been like that for a while," he said.
"Chelsea have to come here - and that is where we want to be. We want to win our home games."
Rooney scored his 23rd goal of the season against Pompey, equalling a career best, when he made the breakthrough in the 40th minute following a cross from Darren Fletcher.
Neville is keen for his team-mate to maintain that form, especially as they are about to lock horns with David Beckham's AC Milan in the Champions League.
He said: "Wayne was in the right position at the right time after a great ball by Fletcher. He is a having a great season and and is a fantastic player for us.
"I hope Wayne continues like this until the end of the season because we are going to need him. The most important thing is he is scoring vital goals."
Full-back Patrice Evra added: "Wayne understands what the team needs. He is more mature. He is a world-class player, who is so dangerous in the box."
After Rooney opened the scoring United added a second on the stroke of half-time. Nani's close-range effort took a deflection first off Anthony Vanden Borre and then goalkeeper David James.
James was again cursing his luck in the 58th minute as Michael Carrick's drive cannoned off Richard Hughes and left him stranded.
United maintained the momentum and made it 4-0 on the hour with Dimitar Berbatov regaining possession and sending a low shot into the corner after Portsmouth failed to close him down.
The scoring was complete nine minutes later when Marc Wilson turned Evra's cross into his own net.
Neville said: "To get that goal before half-time was huge. Once we got it, Portsmouth found it very difficult. It deflated them.
"Nani and Antonio (Valencia) were a real threat every time they got down the wings.
"Nani is now making the right decisions. It is so difficult to stay with a player like him as he is so quick. He can go either way. He is coming on in leaps and bounds."
He was described by Martin O'Neill as "one of the best players in the world, absolutely at the top of his form" on Wednesday. In the Manchester Mercantile Court this week, his agent and his former management company have argued over £4.3m-worth of commission on the player's commercial deals. As Wayne Rooney becomes the irresistible choice for Player of the Year, putting a value on him is no simple matter.
Against Aston Villa on Wednesday he was again the outstanding player for Manchester United, who played for an hour with 10 men. This season has been different to any of his previous five seasons with United.
Already he has scored 21 Premier League goals in 25 starts, five in excess of his previous best league record when he scored 16 in his entire second season at United. If anything differentiates Rooney present from Rooney past it has been his composure in front of goal. He has been saved by manager Sir Alex Ferguson for the League this year, starting only two of United's six Champions League group games.
His goalscoring run picked up pace with England in the last World Cup qualification campaign, in which he ended up with nine goals in the nine qualifiers he played. He has scored just once in his last five games for England but the difference with United and national team is obvious. He is much more effective in front of goal.
In the past Rooney has not always looked like the archetypal goalscorer. When he was substituted by Fabio Capello against the Czech Republic in August 2008 he had only 14 goals in 44 caps. Since then, as England have been transformed, so has Rooney. His record now stands at a far more respectable 25 goals in 57 caps.
The discipline
Contrary to the usual assumptions about Rooney, he has never had a dreadful disciplinary record – it just looks that way because of the manner in which he charges about the pitch. His last red card for United was against Fulham in March of last year and this season he has picked up just five bookings in the League – unsurprisingly three of them in games that United were on their way to losing.
On Wednesday we were treated to the rare sight of the referee Peter Walton helping Rooney to fasten on the captain's armband that he inherited from Ryan Giggs when the latter went off injured. Rooney's general attitude of disbelief mixed with contempt towards referees has softened. He is more likely to talk to them now.
In the past Rooney has become increasingly tetchy when asked to play alone up front, the most famous example being the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal in 2006 when he was sent off. These days, when asked to lead the line on his own, he does not react as badly to the treatment meted out by defenders.
The commitment
Only Patrice Evra has played more minutes (2,384) than Rooney (2,216) for United in the League this season. He has featured in every game apart from the home encounter with Bolton Wanderers in October. As ever it is the big injuries – breaks and ruptures – that United and England will fear because Rooney does not seem to be plagued by the everyday aches and pains of most footballers.
When it came to the other side of Rooney's commitment on Wednesday, O'Neill picked out the determination with which Rooney chased Ashley Young down the right flank with seven minutes left of the match. Some managers would have been concerned at the ferocity of Rooney's charge after one of their best players. O'Neill regarded it as something his Villa players could learn from.
In the bad old days, Rooney might have been tempted to do something daft as he sprinted back into the left-back position. These days he seems to be able to keep a lid on it. And commitment comes in many guises: he is not playing hardball over his new contract and suggesting that he might go elsewhere. He has said repeatedly that he wants to stay at United.
His position
The 4-3-3 formation that both United and Arsenal have adopted is part of a new trend to try to imitate Barcelona's formidable Champions League-winning system. At Arsenal, it relies upon the quality of the wingers to make it work because with Robin van Persie injured they do not have a recognised centre- forward. At United, it is Rooney who holds it altogether.
After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney has become the focal point for every United attack. It means that he is the player pushed furthest up the pitch, which militates against his tendency to drift deeper and deeper in search of possession. When United counter-attack, as they did against Arsenal at the end of last month, he is able to run at defences that are undermanned and exposed.
It has meant that Dimitar Berbatov has become more of an understudy to Rooney than a foil; Michael Owen has slipped off the radar and Danny Welbeck has been sent off to Preston on loan. This is not an easy system to play but Ferguson seems to be convinced that he only needs one player above all in order to make it work.
His status
It goes without saying that Old Trafford is a very different place to when Rooney first arrived. Back in the summer of 2004 there were no Glazers in charge, Arsenal were the best team in the country by some distance and there was only one Champions League trophy to the club's name.
More importantly, so many big names have left since then, including Ronaldo, Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alan Smith, Diego Forlan and Gabriel Heinze. Rooney is already in his sixth season at the club, one more than Van Nistelrooy played for United. By the end of this season he will have been at United as long as Ronaldo was.
But there are other reasons why Rooney tends to get the armband when Giggs or Rio Ferdinand is substituted. This team is facing another epoch of rapid redevelopment. Not only will the likes of Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville have little time left, but older stalwarts Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic seem to be approaching the time when they start to wind down or, in the latter's case, angling to leave.
Rooney is already a United veteran at 24, but that has also coincided with arguably the most impressive period of his career to date.
Just how good is Rooney? The great and the good have their say
"For some time it has been possible to say certain things about Rooney with absolute conviction. One is that he is the most talented English player of his generation. Another is that he has the potential to be the best in the world. Recently he has been simply magnificent. He has accepted his responsibilities and confirmed his quality. He is a pure football; his love of the game shines through every performance."
Sir Bobby Charlton
"Sometimes you see a young player and you know right away he is exceptional. Rooney was such a player right from the start. When I first saw him I thought, 'Here is a lad who can do anything in the game.' He has the thing all the truly great players have. He knows the game, and where to be on the field, quite instinctively. He can be up there with all the great ones, people like Pele."
John Giles
"It's a no-brainer. Rooney is a great player and can prove himself one of the greatest we have ever seen. When Cristiano Ronaldo was at United, Rooney was often asked to play in positions he might not have liked so much. Now he is coming into his own. Best of his English generation? It's another no-brainer."
Paddy Crerand
"In my book Wayne is up there with [Lionel] Messi and Ronaldo. He has amazing talent."
Ryan Giggs
"As good as Pele? There will only ever be one Pele regardless of colour. Wayne Rooney is as exciting to watch now as he was in Euro 2004 when he burst onto the scene. If we conducted a poll with Europe's top players, I'm confident they would regard him as world-class. So do I."