Van Nistelrooy's triple strike in the 4-1 win meant United remain just one point adrift of Arsenal, who beat Newcastle 3-2 on Friday.

Chelsea also moved back to within a point of the leaders on Saturday but their 100 million pounds (160 million dollars) of talent was made to work hard for a 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Van Nistelrooy, branded a cheat by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after last weekend's ill-tempered goalless draw at Old Trafford, had received a mixture a plaudits and criticism this week after his role in the ugly scenes in that match.

His exaggerated response to tackles was blamed for Patrick Vieira's sending-off which sparked the ill feeling, yet he refused to lash out when Arsenal players jostled him afterwards.

On Saturday, the only talking he was doing was with his boots.

Paul Scholes marked his return to the United side after a month sidelined by a hernia problem with a delightful chip to set up Roy Keane for United's opener after 15 minutes.

Van Nistelrooy hammered in a rebound from a Scholes shot to make it two a minute later and further strikes on the stroke of half time and seven minutes after the interval took the Dutch striker's Premiership tally for the season to seven in seven games.

Frank Sinclair scored a late consolation for the outclassed home side.

United boss Ferguson was delighted with his Dutch striker.

"His name will always be in the papers because he is a great player and he showed that today. There can't have been many strikers as good as him over the years. A hat-trick today and he could have had six," said Ferguson.

"His motivation has always been that he is a world class footballer who loves scoring."

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is proving he is not surplus to requirements at Chelsea following the arrival of Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu with his fifth league goal of the season.

Hasselbaink tapped in from two yards two minutes before the interval after Thomas Sorensen failed to hold a Frank Lampard shot.

Juan Pablo Angel spurned two good second half chances to equalise and Chelsea held on for a victory which manager Claudio Ranieri graciously conceded was less than deserved.

"I'm happy because I suffered a lot during the match," said Ranieri.

"We're like a baby. We're crawling now. Sometimes we try to stand up but we're not ready yet. The pressure on the baby isn't good - but I'm his father and I'll take all the pressure.

'We started well and made a lot of chances without scoring and that is not good because in England the opponent can always come back and score," Ranieri said.

"In the second half Aston Villa pushed a lot and deserved to draw the match. Angel had two good chances to score and they were unlucky."

At the other end of the table, a Kevin Davies equaliser five minutes from the end for Bolton denied Wolves their first Premiership victory and left Wolves boss Dave Jones seething.

A stunning 30-yard volley by Alex Rae had put Wolves on course for victory before sloppy marking allowed Davies the chance to equalise.

"One lapse in concentration has let them back into after we worked so hard to get the three points," Jones fumed.

Birmingham bounced back from their shock League Cup exit at the hands of second division Blackpool with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth.

Midfielder Stephen Clemence and Australian winger Stan Lazaridis scored the goals that lifted Steve Bruce's side, who are unbeaten in six games in the league, to fourth in the table.

Southampton's unbeaten start to the season came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at home to Middlesbrough.

Malcolm Christie was Boro's match-winner with a 13th-minute strike and Southampton's frustration was underlined when Kevin Phillips was sent off in the closing minutes for kicking out at French defender Franck Queudrue.