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With guest of honour Eric Cantona watching from the stands, Manchester United turned on the style to maintain their vain pursuit of Premiership leaders Chelsea.

Fittingly, it was three of Cantona's old team-mates - Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane - who played the major roles in United's biggest league win of the campaign.

Victory did not come without a scare. Wayne Rooney missed a penalty and relegation-haunted Palace twice stunned Old Trafford with surprise levellers.

But, with Scholes scoring twice and Alan Smith also finding the net before John O'Shea's injury-time effort, United were in command long before the final whistle, although it did need an Emmerson Boyce own goal during a frenetic start to the second period to eventually put them into a lead they would not lose.

The result dumps Palace back into the bottom three but the victory, and just as importantly the goals, will restore Ferguson's faith that the title can be won again even they might have to do it without Ruud van Nistelrooy for the next few games.

A recurring theme of Ferguson's assessment of his team's recent form is that they need to start converting a greater percentage of their chances.

With Louis Saha also sidelined, it will be left to Wayne Rooney and Smith to shoulder United's ailing Premiership title hopes, not a problem to the ebullient Smith, but definitely a concern as far as Rooney's form is concerned.

The memory of his debut-day hat-trick against Fenerbahce will linger long, but currently Rooney is suffering a dip, as 19-year-old's tend to do.

Confident enough to take the eighth minute penalty after Darren Fletcher had fallen under the weight of Danny Granville's challenge, he then struck a weak effort at the perfect height for Gabor Kiraly, who kept it out with a low, one-handed stop.

It was the prelude to a personal first-half performance from the £27million former Everton man which in common football speak amounted to a 'mare'. Passes went astray, crosses were too long or too short and even his first-touch let Rooney down at times.

Fortunately, some of his more senior colleagues were doing rather better, notably Giggs, Scholes and Keane, who are running out of chances to add to their Premiership medal collection, and decided this was not the time to surrender another.

Scholes may have taken the headlines with his brace but Keane was perpetual motion in midfield and a galvanising force when the game threatened to go against his team.

For 90 glorious minutes it was a throwback to the days when the Irishman rampaged on a regular basis at home and abroad. Ferguson can profess his contentment with Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson all he likes but how he must wish his fellow Celt was a decade younger.

Giggs too appears to be enjoying a revival, perfectly timed too with another contract to negotiate.

Two second half runs provided a cameo of the type of flowing bursts for which he will be remembered and had either ended with a shot flying into the net, there would have been genuine discussion over whether it eclipsed his famous FA Cup semi-final effort against Arsenal five years ago.

Kiraly has reason to remember his Old Trafford visit with fondness given the number of times he saved his team, but in all likelihood the Hungarian's mind will always drift back to his crucial mistake immediately after Joonas Kolkka had scored his side's second equaliser 50 seconds after the re-start.

Granville had already levelled once after Scholes had helped United shrug off Rooney's miss with a textbook example of pass and move, running into the box after taking a short corner, then receiving Keane's excellent through ball and firing into the top corner.

When Smith rose to restore United's lead with his eighth goal of the campaign, an inch-perfect header from Scholes' corner, Palace appeared doomed. Instead Kolkka nodded Michael Hughes' cross past Roy Carroll immediately after the break.

If Palace had been able to hold the hosts for any length of time, Ferguson's side could have been consumed by nerves.

Unfortunately, Kiraly chose the wrong time to make his blunder, failing to do anything more than brush a deep Gary Neville cross onto adjacent defender Emmerson Boyce, who diverted the ball into the net off the back of his head.

Scholes, who went eight months without scoring before breaking his duck against Charlton four weeks ago, cannot stop now and even the loss of support from his standing foot couldn't prevent him stroking home his sixth in six games.

It was the third goal in the opening four minutes of the second half and despite the former England man's best efforts at completing a hat-trick, proved to be the United's last until O'Shea broke his seasonal duck with virtually the final kick.

Teams
Man Utd Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Fortune (O'Shea 32), Fletcher, Scholes, Keane, Giggs, Rooney, Smith.

Subs Not Used: Howard, Phil Neville, Bellion, Miller.

Goals: Scholes 22, Smith 35, Boyce 48 og, Scholes 49, O'Shea 90.

Crystal Palace Kiraly, Boyce, Sorondo, Hall, Granville, Routledge (Andrews 81), Riihilahti (Soares 69), Watson, Hughes (Lakis 69), Kolkka, Johnson.

Subs Not Used: Speroni, Popovic.

Booked: Granville.

Goals: Granville 27, Kolkka 46.

Att: 67,814

Ref: S Dunn (Gloucestershire).