Cristiano Ronaldo is mobbed after scoring
Carlos Tevez is congratulated by his United team-mates
CARLOS TEVEZ may feel unwanted but he proved a point today as Manchester United took a massive step closer to the title.
United boss Alex Ferguson awoke to stories of Tevez claiming he was set to quit Old Trafford in the summer due to a lack of first-team football.
The Scot responded by restoring the Argentina international to his starting line-upFerguson was rewarded with a superb performance but he refused to shed any real light on Tevez's future.
He said: "Carlos is a Manchester United player. I’m not getting into that at all."
Cristiano Ronaldo temporarily stole the spotlight from Tevez when he put the hosts ahead after 18 minutes.
The Portguese star cracked home a trademark free-kick to dent Manchester City's hopes of getting one over their arch-rivals.
City keeper Shay Given got a hand to the right-foot effort but a wicked bounce, combined with the pace of the long-range strike, meant the best he could do was palm the ball into the net.
Tevez came close to increasing United's advantage with a stunning strike just after the half-hour mark.
But his curling effort crashed back off the woodwork as Given stood rooted to the spot.
With half-time fast approaching, Tevez went one better when he thundered in another right-foot effort after Darren Fletcher's clearance was expertly brought down by Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian turned into space and laid the ball across to Tevez, who steadied himself before drilling home via the post.
City had a golden chance to cut the arrears and get themselves back into the match just minutes into the second half.
Elano's driven pass put fellow Brazilian Robinho in on goal but the ex-Real Madrid star blasted high and wide.
And the miss summed up another frustrating afternoon for Mark Hughes' men, who promise so much but regularly fail to deliver.
Ronaldo, who had already shown his best side, then proceeded to let himself down with a poor reaction to being substituted.
He clearly disagreed with the decision and made his feelings known by throwing his tracksuit top to the ground.
Ferguson, however, refused to condemn his volatile star. He said: “Ronaldo wanted to stay on.
"He is in great form but I’ve got to look at the big picture.
"I’ve got to think about keeping our players as fresh as we can for the games ahead."
With Ronaldo still fuming on the bench, Tevez could — and should — have had the final say in the dying stages with his second goal of the game.
But he managed to send his diving header against the post when it appeared easier to score.
