A goal in each half handed Manchester United a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
With just one win from their previous six visits to Blackburn, United were not expecting an easy ride and, for the opening 25 minutes at least, they were not disappointed.
Roque Santa Cruz had a clear edge on Nemanja Vidic, while Matt Derbyshire and Brett Emerton appeared capable of finding space at will.
Had Derbyshire been able to convert Andre Ooijer's superb through ball, with the massed ranks of United's defence converging on the rebound after Edwin van der Sar had made the initial block, Rovers might have maintained their offensive.
Instead it was United who prospered and although Darren Fletcher could not supply the finish to Dimitar Berbatov's sublime pass, the visitors gained in control as the match went on.
steered home
Berbatov was again the architect as Ryan Giggs' angled drive was tipped onto the bar by Jason Brown. But it proved the briefest of reprieves for Paul Robinson's deputy.
Wayne Rooney supplied the cross which, with namesake James on the deck, Wes Brown steered home at the far post.
Rooney should have doubled United's lead before the break, only for Brown to save his close-range effort, although his best moment was still to come.
Santa Cruz had drifted out of the match and though he briefly lifted the home fans with a powerful drive Van der Sar was forced to push behind at the start of the second period, the Paraguayan was soon making his way to the dug-out for an injury-enforced change that hardly enhanced Blackburn's chances of getting something out of the match.
It looked like Ronaldo was going to provide Ferguson with an injury worry of his own when he gingerly held his right ankle after having a shot blocked by Christopher Samba.
quickly recovered
However, the prospective World Player of the Year quickly recovered and, after failing to find the finish when the impressive Berbatov had done the creating, he surged past Martin Olsson after collecting Brown's short pass by the touchline.
And, having charged into open space, Ronaldo was able to take his time and pick out Rooney, who produced an unstoppable first-time finish that flashed into the Blackburn goal.
Rooney, dropping deep following Carlos Tevez's introduction for Giggs, steamed through the Blackburn defence and beat Brown with a deft chip that dropped onto the roof of the net.
Berbatov also found himself one-on-one with the Blackburn keeper but could not get round him before Anderson's angled drive brought an acrobatic save out of Brown.
Tevez splashed through the puddles to reach Ronaldo's cut-back, only for the Argentina forward to strike a post with United's last chance in what had turned out to be a one-sided encounter.
