The Red Devils have now four points just like Villarreal who beat Celtic 1-0 but they have a better goal difference.

Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov opened his account of goals at Manchester United as he hit a second-half brace, 55 and 79, while Wayne Rooney opened the scoring after 22 minutes.

The defending champions took full control of the game and needed only a few minutes to get in the lead. Veteran winger Ryan Giggs was the architect as he set up Rooney with a brilliant through ball to run and finish.

10 minutes after the break, Berbatov doubled the lead as Captain Thomas Augustinussen made a terrible mistake failing to control a pass that came to the Bulgarian who finished into a nearly clear goal.

The former Tottenham striker scored the third with a lot of style as he intercepted Ronaldo's cross with a scissor kicking.

In Spain, Marcos Senna inspired Villarreal to an important 1-0 win over Celtic. The EURO 2008 winner curled in a 25-metre free-kick that went over the wall and it dropped into the bottom corner in 67 minutes.

It was a well deserved victory for the Spaniards who joined Manchester United at the top.