Untouchable Manchester United "Best Team in The World" says Gianfranco Zola

Gianfranco Zola hailed Manchester United’s new Untouchables as the "best team in the world" after being beaten by a Ryan Giggs collectors’ item.

Giggs maintained his record of scoring in all 17 seasons since the Premier League’s formation with the 62nd-minute winner - a rare right-foot shot - to send United back to the top.

And goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar set a new British record of 20 hours and 12 minutes without conceding a League goal, beating Bobby Clark’s 38-year-old record at Aberdeen.

West Ham boss Zola shared a bottle of red wine with his counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson last night - and then admitted he could not see United surrendering pole position on the title run-in.

Zola said: "We may have lost, but we were probably playing the best team in the world. They have everything needed to win the title again.

"They punished us for the only mistake we made in the match, so I can only be complimentary about them. I knew it would be very difficult if United scored first, and Sir Alex has done a great job as always."

Fergie celebrated going two points clear of Liverpool, and extending United’s unbeaten run to 13 games, by reserving a special tribute to Giggs.

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He said: "I’m searching my memory for the last time Ryan scored with his right foot. I think it was against Coventry about 12 years ago, of all things.

"But he is a credit to the game - if anyone wants an example of how to dedicate yourself to football, you could have no greater example than Ryan Giggs.

"It was a fantastic performance from our back four: they kept their concentration and their focus, and I’m proud for Edwin because at his age he has already achieved almost everything in the game.

"But you can see he is motivated by the challenge of keeping clean sheets now and that’s given us an extra edge - he has everyone jumping out of their skin because of the record."

Ferguson warned Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa that United would be difficult to catch after avoiding a hat-trick of defeats at Upton Park, where his side blew the title in 1992 and 1995 in heartbreaking fashion.

But he added: "We had an 11-point lead over Arsenal in 1998 and we lost it, so we are not counting our chickens."

( Mike Walters / Mirror )