Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for midfielder Paul Scholes who put in a man of the match display as United beat Chelsea 3-1 to lift the Charity Shield.

Scholes was at his very best as he ran the show and provided a sublime ball to Wayne Rooney in the build up to the opening goal for Antonio Valencia.

"He's just an incredible footballer," said Ferguson to the BBC.

"It's a phenomenon that he goes out there and becomes man of the match, approaching his 36th birthday."

"This time last year, he's saying to himself, 'This is my last season' - and a lot of people thought that.

"It came across my mind also, simply because he's had a lot of injuries in his career. He keeps coming back; it's not easy to do that”.