Wolves 0 Manchester United 1

PAUL SCHOLES breathed a sigh of relief after finally notching his 100th Premier League goal – now he can look ahead to far more important honours.

Once a prolific scorer, Scholes found the net for the 98th time in league combat at Sunderland in April last year.

It has taken 11 months to get the extra two, having been on 99 since his effort in the four-goal demolition of West Ham last December.

His latest, a neat finish after he had shown patience and composure to nip past Jody Craddock before drilling his shot into the far corner, promises to be one of the most important this season.

It gave Manchester United a narrow victory at Wolves and took them back to the top of the league.

Scholes has never been one for rejoicing at personal milestones.

And, after becoming the 18th player to reach a Premier League ton, he offered the briefest of reactions before setting his sights on more tangible rewards.

‘‘It was nice,’’ he said. ‘‘I had a similar chance against West Ham a couple of weeks ago, but thankfully this time I managed to score.

‘‘I have been on 99 for a while now, so it is nice to get it done. I am really pleased to achieve it. It has put us top of the league and hopefully we can stay there.’’ Although United survived a couple of major scares, including one in stoppage time when Sam Vokes blazed over from six yards, it was the kind of result they have turned into an art form down the years.

With nine matches remaining, United know points, not performances, are all that matter now.

Having been down that road so many times, Scholes can sense when it has been a potentially decisive day.

‘‘It was a big win,’’ he said.

‘‘The pitch wasn’t great and I don’t think they were too interested in playing football either.

‘‘They were just trying to stop us, which made it difficult.

‘‘When you scrape through like that, when you are just hanging in, it is as good as getting five.’’ Sir Alex Ferguson has already started chalking the games off, the next one being at Old Trafford on Sunday against Fulham, who have to visit Juventus in the Europa League next Thursday.

United have an eye-catching European tie of their own though, against David Beckham’s AC Milan on Wednesday, with the Red Devils looking to defend their 3-2 first-leg lead and advance into the quarter-finals.

‘‘Wednesday is a massive game and this win will send us into it with a lot of confidence,’’ Scholes added.

Rio Ferdinand believes it will take another Premier League title for Dimitar Berbatov’s contribution to the Manchester United cause to be really appreciated.

Berbatov has not really won over the vast majority of the United support since his club record £30.75m move from Tottenham at the start of last season.

Although Ferguson has repeatedly launched staunch defences of the Bulgarian, it has not stopped him leaving Berbatov out of a number United’s most important games in recent times, including last season’s Champions League final, and the trip to AC Milan three weeks ago.

But with Wayne Rooney struggling to be fit for Wednesday’s game and Michael Owen out for the season, Berbatov could be asked to do the hard yards as the lone front-man.

He showed he was up to the task at Wolves. And Ferdinand recognises it will take more of the same if the United support is to understand why Berbatov’s team-mates are already so happy with him.

‘‘If we win the league this year, I think Berba will be appreciated for what he has done,’’ said the 31-year-old.

‘‘When you look at the statistics you can see he is one of the hardest runners in our team and that he covers the most ground.

‘‘He is a bit languid but he really puts the effort in.

‘‘At the training ground, he is always in the gym.”