Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson warned his team not to get carried away by believing they can romp to a record English Premier League triumph.
United are 15 points clear at the top after their 1-0 home win over Reading on Saturday which followed defending champion Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat at Everton.
But Ferguson refused to be complacent despite United being in a position to win the title by a record margin.
The 18 points by which United won the 2000 championship from Arsenal remains the largest winning cushion, not only in the history of Premier League but in top-flight English football.
“They can say what they like. You don’t get points or medals for being complacent and we won’t be,” said Ferguson.
“It wasn’t a great performance but … where we are today is not down to today – it’s down to the previous six months.
“The team has shown great consistency and played a lot of great football and the goal difference over City is big now – 15 points.”
Match winner Wayne Rooney echoed his manager and refused to get carried away by the commanding gap, a margin which looks certain to bring them a 20th English league championship.
“You have to be professional. We know we’re in a fantastic position with nine games to go and 15 points clear but we have to go out and do our job week in, week out,” he said.
Victory for United against Sunderland in their next game, in two weeks, coupled with a City defeat would build Ferguson’s side an 18-point advantage ahead of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
A win for United in that fixture, on April 8, would leave City mathematically unable to overhaul United’s point tally in the seven remaining matches.
Everton’s win temporarily put them into fifth place, but they slipped back to sixth after Arsenal won 2-0 at Swansea City to move to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
January signing Nacho Monreal and Gervinho struck late in the game at the Liberty Stadium as Arsene Wenger’s side responded in positive fashion to their mid-week elimination from the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Liverpool lost ground in the race for European qualification after losing 3-1 at Southampton.
Morgan Schneiderlin put Southampton ahead at St Mary’s, before Rickie Lambert doubled the hosts’ lead with a deflected free-kick.
Philippe Coutinho replied for Liverpool on the stroke of halftime, but Rodriguez made sure of victory in the 80th minute as Mauricio Pochettino’s side pulled seven points clear of the relegation places.
Queens Park Rangers were left seven points adrift of safety at the foot of the table after losing 3-2 to relegation rivals Aston Villa in a thrilling encounter at Villa Park.
In the day’s other game, Stoke City failed to reverse their disappointing recent form in a goalless draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.