Blackburn Res 2 Manchester United Res 4: Sergio Peter scored a wonder goal at a windswept Christie Park but Blackburn Rovers' five-match unbeaten run still came grinding to a halt at the hands of the league leaders.

On a night of twists and turns, Rovers were trailing 3-1 when Peter appeared to have handed his side a lifeline in the 56th minute.

But United, inspired by the brilliant Giuseppe Rossi, then sealed the points courtesy of a Jonathan Evans header, which enabled the Reds to open up a four-point gap at the top of the table.

Earlier, the game had started in explosive fashion.

There was barely two minutes on the clock when Rovers full-back Tony Kane swung over a wind-assisted cross from the right which completely deceived United keeper Luke Steele, who looked on in horror as the ball sailed straight over his head and into the net.

It was a freak strike and Steele's face turned a similar colour to his team-mates' crimson shirts as he squirmed with embarrassment.

However, those blushes were spared within three minutes as United fashioned a slick equaliser.

Danny Simpson embarked on a darting down the right before whipping over a teasing low cross that was turned in from six-yards out by Rossi, the young Italian striker who recently scored his first Premiership goal in a 3-1 win at Sunderland.

Shortly afterwards, Steele redeemed himself with a brilliant double save to deny Joe Garner at his near post, while the woodwork came to Rovers' rescue, Darron Gibson's shot rebounding back off the crossbar.

Then Rossi demonstrated just why he's so highly regarded by Sir Alex Ferguson when he scored a cracking goal in the 30th minute.

There appeared to be no immediate danger when Markus Neumayr fed the ball in from the right, but Rossi, who had his back to goal, performed a neat pirouette on the edge of the area and promptly smashed an unstoppable shot past Richard Lee.

It was a stunning finish from the 18-year-old who, on this evidence, looks a Premiership star of the future.

After Rossi missed a chance to complete his hat-trick, United did grab a third in the 42nd minute, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake beating Lee to a through ball that held up in the wind before squeezing home a low shot from the acutest of angles.

There was no let-up in the action after the break.

Peter reduced the arrears in spectacular style when he his 30-yard piledriver whistled into the bottom right-hand corner.

But the Reds then killed off any thoughts of a comeback when Evans rose to steer a header past Lee in the 64th minute.

There was a flurry of bookings late on and United finished the game with 10-men after Kieran Lee was shown a second yellow for a late challenge on Ralph Welch, but, by then, the visitors had the points wrapped up.