A rejuvenated Manchester United kept their title hopes flickering and at the same time turned out the Premiership lights for Crystal Palace.

Goals from Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Andy Cole gave United a convincing victory against a team which has now been relegated three times in six years.

But as United boss Alex Ferguson applauded his team off the pitch how he must have wished they could have produced a few more spirited and effervescent displays such as this over the championship run-in.

And how he must have yearned to play a side with such glaring inadequacies as Palace every week.

No matter. Even allowing for the shortcomings of a desperate and demoralised Palace side, who have looked doomed for months, United were back to their exuberant, irrepressible best.

Gone was the diffidence and lethargy which has done such irreparable damage to their title challenge.

Gone was the frailty which has seen them struggle to despatch even mediocre opposition.

And encouragingly for England boss Glenn Hoddle it was the United contingent of Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Teddy Sheringham, who have looked so out of sorts in recent weeks, who were at the heart of United's every enterprising move.

The victory takes United to within one point of Arsenal, who admittedly have two games in hand and with four games left the north Londoners - bar a colossal collapse - should still cruise to their first Premiership title.

But at least United gave their travelling support something to cheer.

Indeed they signalled their intention to surge forward as early as the fourth minute when Nicky Butt crashed a powerful 20-yarder just too high.

Palace, however, failed to heed the warning and when they wasted a throw-in just seconds later United pounced.

Teddy Sheringham played in a shrewd ball for Cole, whose deft touch fell into the path of Paul Scholes.

For a moment it looked as if the England midfielder had lost the chance with the ball stuck between his feet, but he dug it out to crash home a 10-yard shot past keeper Kevin Miller.

It was always a mission impossible for Palace, who have won just one home league game all season and that against Derby nine days ago.

The Londoners have stumbled from one farce to another in a season which started under the guidance of Steve Coppell and has finished with an Italian player-coach in Attilio Lombardo in charge who does not speak English - and an assistant-player coach in the rotund and vaguely bizarre shape of Tomas Brolin.

Such a partnership was always a desperate throw.

And their hopes of salvaging anything from this game disappeared when United made it 2-0 after 21 minutes, though this time Palace appeared to have just cause for protest.

Palace player-manager Attilio Lombardo looked to have been hacked down from behind by David May, but referee Peter Jones waved play on.

The ball was moved swiftly on to Butt who cruised forward unchallenged to fire a powerful 20-yarder past Miller.

By now United were surging forward at will and could easily have gone in at half-time five goals ahead as Butt, Beckham and Giggs all squandered gilt-edged shooting chances.

The second-half was a carbon-copy of the first with Palace throwing themselves forward in waves of kamikaze attacks, only to be picked off as United carved open their defence on the counter-attack.

Cole should have scored with a completely free header from five yards, another flashing shot from Butt skimmed just over and Sheringham's crisp shot was turned away by Miller.

But Palace, for whom Italian duo Lombardo and Michele Padovano battled bravely, should have got on the scoresheet themselves when Peter Schmeichel spilled Dean Gordon's free-kick only for Neil Shipperley to hook the ball over the bar from three yards.

In truth so woeful were the Londoners in invention and accuracy, however, that they probably would not have hit the Millennium Dome.

The only mystery was why United did not score a hatful but they did eventually give the scoreline more of a realistic complexion.

The Palace defence cracked under intense pressure in the 84th minute when United's man-of-the-match Scholes slipped the ball across the face of goal for Cole to score his 24th and easiest goal of the season.

For United the victory keeps their desperately frustrating season flickering for at least another six days when Arsenal can clinch the title at home to Everton if they beat Derby at Highbury on Wednesday night.

As for Palace their season was past frustrating before the leaves had left the trees. They can only hope to regroup under a new manager and perform their party trick of bouncing back into the Premiership next season.

It is becoming something of a speciality in this part of south London.

Teams

Crystal Palace: Miller, Edworthy, Gordon, Curcic, Lombardo (Hreidarsson 87), Shipperley, Padovano (Dyer 75), Brolin (Fullarton 68), Bent, Smith, Ismael.

Subs Not Used: Warhurst, Nash.

Booked: Ismael.

Man Utd: Schmeichel, Irwin (Clegg 76), May, Pallister, Beckham, Butt, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, Neville, Scholes.

Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Solskjaer, Berg, Thornley.

Goals: Scholes 5, Butt 21, Cole 84.

Att: 26,180

Ref: P Jones (Loughborough).