Manchester United thrashed Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at Old Trafford in this Premier League match. Dimitar Berbatov was the star of the game as he scored five goals for United.

Berbatov joined three other players who hold the record for the most goals scored by a player in a Premier league match. Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and Jermain Defoe have also scored five goals in a Premier league match for their respective clubs.

The result puts Manchester United at the top of the Premier League for the first time this season, and United are now unbeaten after 15 games, their best start to a season since 1985.

Berbatov who had failed to score in his previous 10 matches for the Reds had come under an increasing amount of criticism; since his £31 million transfer from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 he has rarely shown such outstanding form. The Bulgarian now stands as the Premier league’s top scorer this season with a total of 11 goals.

United took a 1-0 lead after just 71 seconds of the game, as Berbatov scored his first, and the match was over as a contest after just half an hour as he added his second goal either side of a Ji-Sung Park effort, to give the Reds a 3-0 half-time lead

Berbatov completed his hat-trick, his second of the season, just after the start of the second half, the victory now wasn’t in doubt, the only question remaining was how many they would score. The thousands of United fans who had come to watch Wayne Rooney score his first goal of the season were disappointed, but his contribution to the game was good, the understanding and linking play between the two players was obvious for all to see.

Rooney, who looked set to leave the club just a few weeks ago, was given a good reception by the fans, and they chanted his name constantly throughout the match.

Blackburn, who were poor from the outset, went from bad to worse, as Berbatov scored two more goals, and he could easily have scored six if it wasn’t for a great save from Rover’s goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Nani scored the 5th United goal and Berbatov completed the rout, with Christopher Samba scoring a late consolation goal for the visitors. The Reds scored 7 goals in a league match for the first time since the 2000 season, when they beat West Ham 7-1.

Blackburn were as poor as Manchester United were good, but the pressure is now on Chelsea, who have lost three of their last four league matches and visit Newcastle United this afternoon