Keane keeps Man Utd top

Keane produced another virtuoso display for United

Manchester United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
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Ruud van Nistelrooy set a Premiership record by scoring in eight consecutive league games as Manchester United beat Blackburn to stay top of the table.

And the Dutchman will surely not have had more time to decide how to score.

Van Nistelrooy spent an age placing the ball on the penalty spot - with the Old Trafford visibly willing their new-found hero to find the back of the net.

But the wait was well worth it when the striker fired past Brad Friedel, who had given away the penalty after bringing down Laurent Blanc in the Blackburn area.

Van Nistelrooy celebrated in style and once again proved why he is worth every penny of his £19m price tag.

  Key incidents

22 mins: Lucas Neill's goal-line clearance denies Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the opener

26 mins: Paul Scholes fires just wide of Blackburn goal

46 mins: Ruud van Nistelrooy breaks Premiership record from the penalty spot

49 mins: Craig Hignett equalises for Rovers

69 mins: Van Nistelrooy hits the crossbar with an overhead kick

81 mins: Roy Keane restores United's after a flowing move

However, Blackburn's riposte was immediate as Craig Hignett pulled one back for the visitors after the restart.

Roy Keane, imperious in United's midfield, restored the home side's lead with nine minutes to go following an audacious back-heel from the returning Ryan Giggs.

But the day belonged to Van Nistelrooy, who almost scored what would have been a contender for goal of the season.

His superbly-executed overhead kick from Juan Sebastian Veron's clever lob crashed against the crossbar.

It's a marvellous achievement to score in eight games in a row

Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson

Manchester United started with the same team that played Southampton - remarkably it was the first time in 77 Premiership games that had fielded an unchanged side - while Andy Cole returned to face his former team-mates for the first time since his £8m move.

Cole was given rapturous applause by the home fans, who paid tribute to a striker often overlooked for his role in United's success story of the 1990s.

Other than Van Nistelrooy's penalty, both sides promised much in the first 45 minutes but delivered little.

Too much of the play took place sideways, with real penetration at a premium.

Van Nistelrooy salutes his adoring fans

Blackburn's Lucas Neill was forced to make a goal-line clearance to deny Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after some excellent work by Keane.

Paul Scholes and Veron combined well midway through the first half, Scholes' fiercely-struck shot going inches wide.

It's been the story of our season - we've played good football, but not got the points we should have done

Blackburn boss Graeme Souness

After the interval, Damien Duff should have given Blackburn the lead after being put clean through by Turkish international Tugay.

But the Republic of Ireland midfielder fired straight at Fabien Barthez.

United endured some scary moments in the dying seconds of the game with Gary Flitcroft and Neill almost grabbing an equaliser for Rovers.

But the home side held on to a hard-fought if not totally convincing victory and with it maintained their impressive momentum which has seen them win their last eight league games on the spin.

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Man Utd: Barthez, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Blanc, Silvestre (Irwin 45), Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Veron (Butt 84), Solskjaer (Giggs 55), van Nistelrooy.
Subs Not Used: Carroll, O'Shea.
Booked: Irwin.
Goals: Van Nistelrooy 46 pen, Keane 81.

Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Johansson, Taylor, Bjornebye (Grabbi 84), Dunn (Flitcroft 65), Hignett, Tugay, Duff, Cole, Jansen (Hughes 72).
Subs Not Used: Kelly, Berg.
Goals: Hignett 49.

Attendance: 67,552

Referee: U Rennie (Sheffield).