Manchester Utd - 4 Charlton - 0: Ruud van Nistelrooy's disappearing act may have been a suitably ignominious way to end what has been a turbulent season for Manchester United, but at least they will go into the summer with one of the consolation prizes.

While second place is "first-last" according to the old Liverpool maxim, the Premiership's silver medal brings automatic qualification to the Champions League. And with more than 73,000 fans shoehorned into the ground, another record crowd had plenty to take their minds off the absent Dutchman on the day Alan Curbishley bade an emotional farewell to Charlton.

United had rolled out the red carpet for the outgoing Charlton manager but the generosity ended after Ferguson invited Curbishley on to the pitch before kick-off to present him with two first-class return flights to New Zealand. In his other pocket Ferguson could conceivably have been concealing a one-way ticket in Van Nistelrooy's name but the United manager will have relished the way his team, minus their leading scorer, found goals so easy to come by against a side who looked ready for their summer holidays.

The match was effectively over by half-time, United three ahead and coasting, but Ferguson's erratic team went on to equal their biggest Premiership win of the season courtesy of Kieran Richardson's splendid fourth. Curbishley's adieu could even have become a humiliation had the home side not dropped a couple of gears, with Paul Scholes making an unexpected and popular appearance for his first competitive game since December.

The pity for Curbishley was that his team could not summon up a better effort.

If his emotions were not so mixed at the end he may have made more, for example, of the absenteeism in defence when Louis Saha flicked in Ryan Giggs's corner for the opening goal. Curbishley was willing to let it go on this occasion but he will not want to see the replays of United's second, when Cristiano Ronaldo had an astonishing amount of time to control another Giggs cross and fire past Stephan Andersen.

They were scruffy goals to concede and it got worse. Jason Euell's own-goal, diverting Saha's centre beyond Andersen, made it three after 35 minutes. Ronaldo went through his repertoire, there was the sight of Giggs in full flight and Giuseppe Rossi, making an overdue first Premiership start, demonstrated in glimpses why Ferguson wanted to try him out in Van Nistelrooy's usual place.

Ferguson's team may have been missing their two most penetrative strikers but they played with a width and threat that made them scarcely recognisable as the side who laboured to scoreless draws in the previous home matches, against Middlesbrough and Sunderland. The fourth goal summed up their increased confidence, Richardson dispossessing Radostin Kishishev just inside the Charlton half and surging forward to score with a thumping left-foot drive from 25 yards. Richardson had already lashed one shot against the underside of the crossbar.

"I enjoyed the game, the players enjoyed it and we deserved the scoreline," Ferguson said. "We knew we had to win because getting into the Champions League directly is so important." After the final whistle his first-team squad, with one notable exception but including a hobbling Wayne Rooney, went on what could charitably be described as a lap of honour though Ferguson opted against his traditional end-of-season address. The enduring image, however, was of Curbishley, dignified as ever, making his way over to salute the away fans and hundreds of red posters being thrust into the sky. "Thanks, Curbs," they read.

Guardian Service