After all the mind games attempted by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson seems to be having the last laugh, at least at the end of this year, after a rejuvenated Manchester United smashed Wigan Athletic 3-1 to pull 4 points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table.

Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved that he has matured as a player this season, scoring just a minute after he was sent on as a substitute to add spark to a dull United performance in the first half.

The Portuguese winger added his second of the night when Chris Kirkland saved his penalty attempt but Ronaldo jumped on the rebound to pass it into the net. Norwegian striker, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer completed a horror second half for Wigan, placing a Rooney flick-on past a flaying Kirkland.

Ferguson will clearly be delighted by the response shown by his players following the shock defeat at Upton Park last week. "It is an unexpected lead we have now. I did not expect Chelsea to draw but that is the nature of football. Nobody expected us to lose at West Ham a couple of weeks ago but we did."

"It just reminds you football can knock you on the head. It turns the tables on you all the time. Consistency will win the league and if we can maintain the consistency we have played with over the first half of the season, we will have a marvellous chance", he added.

The same though cannot be said of Chelsea who had to share the points with Reading in a thrilling encounter at Stamford Bridge. Having taken the lead in the 38th minute, when Drogba headed in a Lampard corner, Chelsea relaxed a bit allowing Reading to taken control of the game in the second half.

Reading slowly took control of the game and had two good chances when a Gunnarsson cross deflected dangerously close to the goal and Steve Sidwell saw his right-foot shot hit the side netting. However Reading equalized in the 67th minute when Lita pounced on Little's right wing cross to head the ball home.

Chelsea though were quick to strike back when Drogba once again headed in to put his team ahead. This time the supplier was Wright-Phillips who had come on in place of a disappointing Shevchenko. With just 5 minutes left, the game was as good as over, only for Ashley Cole to hit his clearance straight onto Essien and the ball deflected wickedly into the net.

Mourinho praised the resilience of Reading saying that they deserved a point. "I don't think I can complain about the players. For example the game at Wigan was easy but we made it hard for ourselves. Yes, I had reason to be unhappy with them then. But today no because Reading made it difficult for us. When the opponents do well and create problems, you can't complain, only praise the opposition", he said.