Soccer English FA Premiership/Manchester United 3 Aston Villa 1: These are times when Manchester United's supporters must be uncertain whether they should be elated or crestfallen. There is no doubt Alex Ferguson's team have the swaggering look of potential champions but the jubilation after every victory lasts only as long as it takes for the electronic scoreboard to flash up Chelsea's score.

As far as the title goes, Ferguson must rapidly be coming to the conclusion that his players have peaked too late. On current form they look like providing a more robust challenge to Chelsea than Arsenal but any one-upmanship over Arsene Wenger must be laced with regret when Ferguson turns his mind back to the number of times before Christmas that he felt compelled to berate his players for their level of performance.

He can console himself with the thought that, whereas the Premiership is a test of longevity, the Champions League goes to the team with the most impeccable sense of timing. There have been times this season when the idea of United returning the European Cup to Old Trafford has seemed preposterous but this is not one of them, even with the formidable Milan to play in the last 16.

Ferguson's side appear to have all the basic requirements, with no obvious flaws, a growing self-belief and the right balance of creativity in attack and hard-headedness in defence.

Milan's infiltrators inside Old Trafford on Saturday might have been taken aback by the inability of Wayne Rooney to accept one of at least three presentable opportunities, and even more so by the frequency with which Roy Keane uncharacteristically squandered possession in the first half.

Yet the Italian delegation would surely have been engulfed with foreboding when considering the options available to Ferguson in attack and the fact that, Rooney aside, his most penetrative players are reaching their most exhilarating peaks at the same time.

The Milan deputation will certainly be aware that Gareth Barry's slick goal was the first conceded by United in nine matches or, to put it another way, 13 hours and 37 minutes.

They will also be aware that when Ruud van Nistelrooy returns from injury United will surely start to accept a greater percentage of their scoring chances and that, in Cristiano Ronaldo, they have a winger who could trouble the world's most accomplished defence.

Ronaldo, like everyone in red, floundered in the 20 minutes after half-time when Barry equalised and, acutely aware of the score from Stamford Bridge, the vast majority of spectators began to fear the worst. That apart, however, he was the architect of Villa's downfall, opening the scoring with a crisp finish and generally tormenting the visiting defence every time he was in possession.

There were times last season when Ronaldo over-elaborated in his desire to entertain but he has cut out the superfluous step-overs and shown a greater appreciation for knowing when to release the ball.

"He's grown up," said Ferguson. "He's learning the game and becoming a really good team player. All the greats - Di Stefano, Cruyff, Pele - were team members rather than individuals. He's developed his decision-making, which is the most important part."

As well as his own goal, Ronaldo teed up Louis Saha to restore United's lead, courtesy of a decisive deflection off Liam Ridgewell's instep, and a minute later it was his shot that Villa's goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen could only parry into the path of the ever alert Paul Scholes.

Sorensen will wince at the replays, although it was difficult to comprehend what his manager David O'Leary felt he had to gain by publicly criticising him afterwards. "He's making a lot of errors that are being punished," O'Leary volunteered. "This season he hasn't been of the same standard as before."

The same accusation could be extended to several of Sorensen's colleagues but it remains perplexing that Sven-Goran Eriksson should perpetually exclude Barry when England are so short of naturally gifted left-sided players.

Barry's goal was splendidly worked but his most impressive contribution was a beautifully weighted cross from which Juan Pablo Angel should have scored in the first half. Eriksson floated the possibility last week of using a right-winger, Shaun Wright-Phillips, on the left of England's midfield and Barry has a genuine grievance. - Guardian Service