Sir Alex Ferguson felt his young Manchester United side found a new level of maturity as they beat Liverpool 3-0 at Old Trafford to stay in pole position in the Barclays Premier League.

Wes Brown was the unlikely scorer of United's first when he leapt to head in Wayne Rooney's cross and the visitors ended the first half with 10 men after Javier Mascherano was sent off for a second bookable offence after arguing with referee Steve Bennett.

Liverpool failed to make a period of second-half pressure tell, and Cristiano Ronaldo headed home the second from a corner in the 79th minute before Nani added a third two minutes later after good interplay with Rooney

Ferguson was hugely pleased with the display and told Sky Sports: "It was a really good performance - a performance of maturity.

"We've seen a team mature over the last six months and today they hit their high peak."

Asked to comment on the dismissal of Mascherano, the Scot added: "He has been booked and kept badgering the referee. We've talked about dissent and I think that was dissent."

Ferguson refused to accept the title was in the bag, and said: "It's going to go right to the end, Chelsea and Arsenal going really well. We've beaten a strong Liverpool side playing good football."