Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson hailed his side’s 3-1 win away to Arsenal as “the best performance of the season” and predicted the race for the Premier League title will go to the wire (Chelsea 4/7 Man United 2/1 Premier League – Outright).

Manuel Almunia helped United get off the mark from a Nani chip before goals from Wayne Rooney and Ji-Sung Park sealed a deserved away victory for the champions.

The result means United have now moved to within one points off leaders Chelsea, who have a game in hand (Hull 15/2 draw 7/2 Chelsea 2/7 Premier League – match betting) and entertain Arsenal next weekend.

Ferguson said: “It gives us all a good boost. There is no question about that. We have a lot of tough games coming up. We hope Arsenal take points off Chelsea next Sunday.

“We will be rooting for Arsenal. Now we need to show real consistency to the end of the season. It has been a great week.”

The Scot was delighted with the way his players, still reveling in the Carling Cup semi-final win over local rivals Manchester City,  took the game to Arsenal.

He added: “This was the best performance of the season. We were galvanised by the performance on Wednesday. They were ready for it. They were really up for it. Their mental sharpness was fantastic.”