By Les Roopanarine
**Dimitar Berbatov scored a second-half brace as Manchester United swept aside Bolton to restore their one-point advantage at the Premier League summit.**Jlloyd Samuel inadvertently handed United the initiative when he turned a Ryan Giggs cross into his own net.
Berbatov stretched the lead, turning in the rebound from a Darren Fletcher shot before flicking in Nani’s cross.
Fabrice Muamba went close for Bolton early on, but Nani set up substitute Darron Gibson to seal the win late on.
A point ahead at the afternoon’s outset, United briefly relinquished the lead to Chelsea, who hammered Aston Villa 7-1 at Stamford Bridge, but the champions re-established their slender advantage in the title race with a performance that grew in authority.
Bolton provided stern opposition in the initial stages, weathering an early United storm and testing Edwin Van der Sar’s reflexes through Johan Elmander and, notably, Muamba, who drew a flying, fingertip save from the United keeper.
But Samuel’s own goal - the 11th that has gone in United’s favour this season - was a hammer blow, and once Berbatov had tucked home to double the champions’ lead, the spirit slowly ebbed from Owen Coyle’s side.
More daunting hurdles lie ahead for United, who now travel to Germany for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich ahead of a Premier League summit meeting with Chelsea at Old Trafford next Saturday.
With the home leg against Bayern to follow on Wednesday week, it promises to be a season-defining period for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, and with that in mind the United manager rested both Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand.
Predictably, Rooney was the more missed of the absent duo, a point underlined by United’s inability to capitalise on some fine build-up play in the initial stages.
With the evergreen combination of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs orchestrating the proceedings superbly in midfield, United dominated the opening quarter but, in the absence of the talismanic Rooney, initially seemed to lack a telling presence in the box.
Berbatov, the understudy for United’s leading scorer, came close to breaking the deadlock with an audacious hooked effort from a narrow angle, while Jonny Evans should have done better than blast a Darren Fletcher lay-off into the stands from close range.
Yet that Bolton held firm came as no surprise.
For all the talk of Coyle’s mission to transform his players from artisans to artists, defensive strength has been the key to the outstanding home form that has guided the club towards safety since the Scot’s January appointment.
Prior to United’s visit, they had kept four successive clean sheets in league clashes at the Reebok Stadium, in the process taking 10 of a possible 12 points.
However, any possibility that they might maintain that impressive record, or that Coyle might mastermind a repeat of his early-season win over United with Burnley, was dashed by Samuel’s unfortunate intervention.
More to follow.