Manchester United cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Birmingham City last night at Old Trafford.
Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor was only able to help Ryan Giggs' free-kick over the line as United broke the deadlock in the third minute.
Giggs then latched onto a through ball from Wayne Rooney to tuck in a second after 15 minutes.
Rooney sealed the win, racing through to score with eight minutes left.
The game was watched by a Premiership record attendance of 69,070.
Birmingham boss Steve Bruce is more determined than ever to pull his side clear of the relegation zone and said afterwards: "I've a great affinity with the club," said Bruce, referring to the 10 years he had at Old Trafford as a player.
"But I'm the Birmingham manager now and this performance has made me more resilient than ever to have a right good go at it (beating the drop).
"We rode our luck at times, but in the second half we gave it a go."
The Birmingham manager, who watched his side suffer a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool in the FA Cup in midweek, added: "Fair play to the players, they've been criticised from pillar to post since that defeat and we needed to respond.
"We were beaten fair and square against United, but the players showed plenty of passion for their shirts."
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, was pleased to see his side collect their seventh straight Premiership win but was disgruntled at their showing after the interval.
He said: "I was disappointed with the second half, especially after the first half which was in keeping with our recent performances.
"We were slack and slow to start off with after the break and that encouraged Birmingham on to us.
"It's frustrating to think that we've now got the consistency to our game that we lacked earlier in the campaign.
"But we had problems with injuries then and had to move players into different positions, but much of the change has come about because of the midfield getting settled."
Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor was only able to help Ryan Giggs' free-kick over the line as United broke the deadlock in the third minute.
Giggs then latched onto a through ball from Wayne Rooney to tuck in a second after 15 minutes.
Rooney sealed the win, racing through to score with eight minutes left.
The game was watched by a Premiership record attendance of 69,070.
Birmingham boss Steve Bruce is more determined than ever to pull his side clear of the relegation zone and said afterwards: "I've a great affinity with the club," said Bruce, referring to the 10 years he had at Old Trafford as a player.
"But I'm the Birmingham manager now and this performance has made me more resilient than ever to have a right good go at it (beating the drop).
"We rode our luck at times, but in the second half we gave it a go."
The Birmingham manager, who watched his side suffer a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool in the FA Cup in midweek, added: "Fair play to the players, they've been criticised from pillar to post since that defeat and we needed to respond.
"We were beaten fair and square against United, but the players showed plenty of passion for their shirts."
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, was pleased to see his side collect their seventh straight Premiership win but was disgruntled at their showing after the interval.
He said: "I was disappointed with the second half, especially after the first half which was in keeping with our recent performances.
"We were slack and slow to start off with after the break and that encouraged Birmingham on to us.
"It's frustrating to think that we've now got the consistency to our game that we lacked earlier in the campaign.
"But we had problems with injuries then and had to move players into different positions, but much of the change has come about because of the midfield getting settled."
