Man United spurred on by vibrant Saha

Man United 2 Charlton 0

Man United 2 Charlton 0

Louis Saha scored the first and set up the second for Gary Neville as a goal in each half proved enough to ease Manchester United past Charlton's challenge at Old Trafford.

The former Fulham striker took his tally to seven since his £12.8million move north but contributed far more to the Red Devils cause as they closed the gap on second-placed Chelsea to a single point.

He departed to a standing ovation midway through the second half, with no doubt Neville contributing to the applause after he raced onto Saha's perfectly-weighted return pass to find the net for the second time in a week.

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Ruud van Nistelrooy nearly made it three 18 minutes from time but saw his 10-yard effort crash back off a post.

The arrival of Roy Keane for Nicky Butt shortly afterwards was greeted with huge roars of approval, meaning one-time United target Paolo di Canio sneaked on almost un-noticed.

Bartlett followed van Nistelrooy's lead in hitting the woodwork when he got on the end of Jensen's cross, but it was as close as Charlton came and like their fellow fourth place hopefuls, they continue to put a consistent run together.