BY David Walsh ( The Times )

WHAT A wonderful testimony to what Alex Ferguson has created at Manchester United. Skilful, quick, inventive and sharp in front of goal, United were much too good for gallant Everton and made a difficult assignment look straightforward. United creep closer to the top and again remind us of what a class act they have become.

Of course it was not easy. Everton had been unbeaten for 10 games, benefiting from the new signings and new organisation that Walter Smith, the manager, has brought to the club. After yesterday's match, Smith had the subdued air of a man who had just heard some demoralising news. "They're the best team we've played this season," he said.

And, you imagine, by some distance. This was a fine match. Everton played well, and still United were in a different class. They have it every way; skilful and combative, ambitious but not arrogant. And what a talented squad - yesterday they announced that Ryan Giggs would be out for a month with a broken foot and it just so happened that Jesper Blomqvist had a smashing match in Giggs's position.

What counted most yesterday was United's attitude. Everton were always going to make it tough, and only by matching their rivals' passion were United in a position to bring their class into play. United needed to arrive in the right frame of mind because Everton, before another 40,000-plus crowd, started like they meant business.

Barely 20 seconds had passed when Duncan Ferguson got behind the United defence and hit a venomous shot that Peter Schmeichel could only parry before Jaap Stam blocked Ferguson's second effort.

It was a good indication of the match to come, because as it swayed this way and that, it never sagged. Olivier Dacourt cut down Blomqvist, Craig Short charged into Paul Scholes, and for a few minutes United seemed in two minds about the 50-50 ball.

Roy Keane, of course, decided for his teammates. His scything tackle on Michael Ball deserved the yellow card it got, but it also made the important point that United had come to battle. Things settled down and that suited United as their more fluid midfield moved deeper into Everton territory.

The breakthrough came after 14 minutes and featured an exquisite Andy Cole pass that put Scholes in space on the right. Being the intelligent player he is, Scholes immediately played it back across the goal to Dwight Yorke and, at the second attempt, United's newest striker had his eighth goal of the campaign.

Everton, the team, have yet to score eight Premiership goals this season. For them that goal was a disappointment; the second, nine minutes later, was a catastrophe.

Keane put Blomqvist away with a fine pass, but when the ball went to David Beckham wide on the right, there did not appear to be any danger. And there was not until Short tried to head Beckham's cross away for a corner. Instead it flew into the corner of his own net. An eerie silence fell over Goodison Park. Even United's fans could not believe what they had seen.

Everton were now in desperate trouble. But they play with plenty of spirit and they are not without some quality. Centre-back Marco Materazzi can play, Danny Cadamarteri is regaining the form that made him so good last season and the new striker Ibrahim Bakayoko will score goals. But their comeback came with a familiar theme, Ferguson rising high and majestically to power home Ball's accurately flighted free kick.

Critically, Everton then enjoyed their best spell, but they could not turn pressure into an equaliser. Ferguson had a fine chance to head his second, but it flew just wide. Then, immediately after half-time, Everton twice hit a post. You cannot afford that kind of bad luck against United and, sure enough, Ferguson's men made them pay. Blomqvist's pass put Cole free inside the penalty area and, striking sweetly with his left foot, Cole scored his sixth goal of the season.

Everton continued to chase the game and, not surprisingly, left themselves exposed at the back. When John Collins miscued a shooting chance after a corner, Keane nudged it on to Beckham, who ran to halfway and knocked it left to Blomqvist for a clear run on goal. Blomqvist's first shot was blocked by Thomas Myhre, but he gratefully headed the rebound high into the far corner. It finished a good day for the Swede.

Knowing the game was lost, Everton tried to improve the scoreline, but United refused to ease up. Right at the end Wes Brown, who had an unusually quiet match, beat his man neatly on halfway and passed to Beckham, who turned the ball inside to Scholes. The England man, running like it was the first minute of the game, crashed a shot, which Myhre would barely have seen, against a post.

Like all very good sides, United play only to their own standards these days. They will have been happy about how they coped with Ferguson and Bakayoko yesterday, pleased about the ease with which their midfield created, and there was further encouragement in the performance of the Cole-Yorke partnership. They have become a very serious threat.

Everton are a better side than the final score suggests. "After going two goals down, we were going to have push people forward. With their strikers' speed, that was going to be a problem for us," said Smith afterwards.

Years ago, Smith and Ferguson used to be in opposition when the coaching staff at Dundee United played their counterparts at Aberdeen. Smith was mostly on the winning side then. Yesterday he encountered his old adversary and discovered some new realities.

Everton: Myhre, Ball, Dacourt, Watson, Unsworth, Collins, Ferguson, Short (Dunne 67min), Materazzi, Bakayoko, Cadamarteri.

Manchester United: Schmeichel, G Neville, Stam, Beckham, Cole, P. Neville (Irwin 67min), Blomqvist, Keane, Scholes, Yorke, Brown.

Booked: Short (7min), Keane (8min), Ball (18min), Bakayoko (33min), G Neville (43min), Unsworth (55min), Scholes (56min).

Scorers: Everton: Ferguson 30

Manchester United: Yorke 14, Short og 23, Cole 59, Blomqvist 64.

Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).

Attendance: 40,079.