CRISTIANO RONALDO hit his 100th goal in a United shirt as party time continued at Old Trafford.The club were already celebrating Alex Ferguson's 50 years in professional football and the visit of Stoke City provided the perfect cannon fodder for an entertaining afternoon at the Theatre of Dreams.
Ronaldo put the home side ahead with a typically vicious freekick inside five minutes and added another in the last minute as United ran riot.
Further goals by Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and 17-year-old Danny Welbeck kept United eight points behind the leaders.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis must have known he was in for a tough afternoon when the Portugal star's early strike dipped and swerved to fool the big Dane Thomas Sorenson in the Potters' goal.
And the visitors main weapon was nullified as well - thanks to the steep slope around the pitch at Old Trafford.
It meant the Rory Delap was struggling to get enough momentum on his missile-like throws although he did get enough purchase on one to force Edwin van der Sar into a smart save in the first half.
Carrick doubled the lead right on the stroke of half time.
Ronaldo was the provider but the former Spurs midfielder still had a lot to do as he fired a terrific left-foot strike from 10 yards that proved too much for Sorenson.
A superb finish by Berbatov made it three.
Darren Fletcher played in Carlos Tevez who set up the Bulgarian for a typically classy finish, lashing in a volley from six yards out.
Man Utd duo Darron Gibson, 21, and Welbeck, 17, came on for their Premier League debuts and the latter capped a perfect debut by hitting the fourth six minutes from time.
Ronaldo then crashed in his second freekick in the dying minutes - with again Sorenson getting a hand to the strike.
A cruise for United but one they desperately needed to keep up the pressure on Liverpool and Chelsea at the top of the table.
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