Teddy Sheringham fired Manchester United three points clear at the top of the Premier League as they finally laid to rest their Hillsborough hoodoo.

It was Sheringham's third goal of the season and another reason why United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be desperate to keep the striker at Old Trafford.

Sheringham is currently involved in contract talks with United, but has already admitted he is keeping his options open, especially given the interest from a posse of clubs waiting for the 33-year-old to make his move.

West Ham manager Harry Redknapp has stated he would love to snap up the England international on a Bosman free deal at the end of the season, while clubs in Spain, Portugal and Italy are believed to be monitoring the situation.

Sheringham's strike was certainly his most priceless since he scored the equaliser in United's Champions Cup win over Bayern Munich in May as Ferguson's side staged the most dramatic of finishes on that occasion.

United didn't leave it quite so late against a Wednesday side who remain seven points adrift of safety as they suffered their first home defeat since September 11.

Wednesday had not lost at Hillsborough for 10 games, a run which included six wins and four draws, while perhaps more remarkably the ground has proved a graveyard to United over the years.

Not since October 1993 had United won in south Yorkshire and it appeared as if such a haunting record would continue to hang like a spectre over their latest title surge.

Particularly after a first half which was hardly what you would describe as an advert for Premier League football, and one certainly not worthy of last season's Treble winners.

Any unsuspecting neutral stumbling on this game would have found it hard to differentiate between the team struggling to avoid the drop and the one looking to reclaim their top-flight title.

For that opening 45 minutes United were clearly continuing to suffer from their post-Brazilian hangover.

Since returning from the money-rich World Club Championships, Ferguson's side have been second best against Arsenal and fortunate to claim a point, while they were unconvincing on Saturday in their 1-0 win against Middlesbrough.

Their minds have seemingly still been on the Copacabana beach while their bodies have been struggling to acclimatise to the bump and grind of life back in the real world.

Yet United still managed to glean four points from those two matches to reclaim their place at the top of the table ahead of Leeds at the weekend on goal difference.

The 7,500 travelling supporters who made the journey to south Yorkshire could perhaps have expected their side to finally have forgotten their beano in Brazil, especially against Wilson's strugglers.

Wednesday went into the match on the back of their most humiliating result and performance of the season in crashing out of the FA Cup to Second Division Gillingham on Saturday.

Admittedly, The Owls had pride to play for, while any team battling in the relegation zone could be expected to raise their game for the visit of the champions.

But it was a lethargic, laborious first half from United in front of a season's best Hillsborough crowd of 39,640, more than 14,000 up on their previous high this campaign.

For a while it appeared as if playing in front of such a huge home crowd would make its mark as Wednesday passed the ball around with uncharacteristic confidence.

They also appeared to adopt a shoot on sight policy as Gilles De Bilde, Wim Jonk and Gerald Sibon all tried their luck, albeit Mark Bosnich was never troubled.

Such was United's lacklustre nature, it took them 24 minutes to register their first shot, and it wasn't until the 45th that they managed to get one on target.

After the break it was a different story as Wednesday found themselves pressed into their own half more and more, while they also appeared frightened of committing men forward, and so ultimately paid the price.

As United contained their opponents the chances began to arrive as Pavel Srnicek first blocked at point blank range from Dwight Yorke.

The Czech international then soon produced the save of the game to beat away Sheringham's near-post flick-header from a David Beckham corner, while Roy Keane drove a riveting drive inches over the bar as Ryan Giggs and Sheringham created.

Yorke soon had a header cleared off the line by Andy Hinchcliffe and it wasn't long before the only goal of the game duly arrived as United crafted a breathtaking move.

Mickael Silvestre was the instigator, with Yorke and Giggs also involved, the latter feeding Sheringham who slipped his shot between the splayed legs of an onrushing Srnicek in the 73rd minute.

United then coasted through the closing stages, and although they are still to hit top gear since Brazil, the bookies will undoubtedly shorten their odds for the title.

But this season's race still has a long way to run, with United's clash with Leeds at Elland Road on February 20 now of major significance.

Teams

Sheff Wed: Srnicek, Nolan, Atherton, Walker, Hinchcliffe, Alexandersson, Jonk, Scott (Rudi 60), Haslam, De Bilde (Donnelly 69), Sibon (Cresswell 82).

Subs Not Used: Pressman, Staniforth.

Booked: Nolan.

Man Utd: Bosnich, G. Neville, Stam, Silvestre, Irwin, Beckham, Butt (Scholes 46), Keane, Giggs, Sheringham, Yorke.

Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Cole, P. Neville, Solskjaer.

Goals: Sheringham 73.

Att: 39,640

Ref: S Dunn (Bristol).