Manchester United vs. QPR: 6 Things We Learned from United's Easy Win

Manchester United took a big step toward retaining the Premier League title with a straight-forward, 2-0 win over QPR at Old Trafford, in a game that taught us several things about the Red Devils and the Premier League as a greater entity.

A farcical penalty decision for an offsides Ashley Young gave Wayne Rooney the opportunity to give United the lead from the spot, which he duly took. Paul Scholes wrapped up the win with a fine strike in the second half, while Michael Carrick, Rafael and Danny Welbeck all could have added further goals.

In the end, two goals were enough, and United went eight points clear at the top.

Here are six things we learned from the match.

"If That Was Luis Suarez/Sergio Busquets/Mario Balotelli/Insert Other..."

...they'd have definitely been booked for diving.

Though as atrocious as Ashley Young's dive was, it obviously bamboozled Lee Mason enough to flag for an immediate penalty and brandish a straight red card for Shaun Derry.

There is often a school of thought bleated out ad naseum that diving is a "foreign" thing, an infestation of the beautiful game brought to the shores of the UK by expensive imports and unpronounceable surnames.

England's squad members seem to be learning well.

And Roberto Martinez Thought He Had It Bad...

Stand in line with play?

Check.

Flag poised, at the ready?

Check.

Lift flag when offside decision spotted?

Ch—oh, wait.

After Roberto Martinez saw his Wigan side beaten by two offside goals against Chelsea yesterday, he labelled the officiating as "disgusting."

Mark Hughes could very well have similar thoughts. Lee Mason's assistant failed to spot Ashley Young a good two yards offside before the same player dived to win a penalty and get QPR man Shaun Derry sent off just 15 minutes into the game.

The officiating in the Premier League has always been derided as not being good enough, but key—and seemingly straight-forward—decisions this weekend are having massive consequences at both ends of the table.

Not good enough, indeed.

Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick: The Most in-Form Central Midfield Partnership

Are there currently two finer exponents of the midfield passing game in the Premier League than Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes?

Probably not.

The duo utterly dominated the game from start to finish against QPR.

Yes, the opposition is struggling, and yes, United are the better all-round team, but these two players were the catalysts that the three points were fired from. They have performed superbly for more than a couple of months, too.

Both are capable of attacking and their defensive duties, though both have their limitations, too; not many of these were on show against QPR, though. Carrick and Scholes out-passed and out-thought their opponents to launch a succession of artillery-style efforts from range at Paddy Kenny's goal.

Tom Cleverley may be the future of Manchester United's midfield, but Scholes and Carrick are the here and now—and they are doing it brilliantly.

Danny Welbeck: Potential, but Not Good Enough Yet

Danny Welbeck got the nod to start up front for Manchester United alongside Wayne Rooney, and by and large he performed well, moving into channels and always looking to create space just inside the penalty box. Athletic, fast and single-minded in and around the box, Welbeck has a lot of talents that are prized in centre-forwards.

But Welbeck is really missing one important attribute: finishing ability.

Against QPR, he should have notched a brace, with an easy enough one-on-one planted straight at the 'keeper and another shot skewed wildly into the terraces.

Welbeck is averaging a goal every 8.5 shots in the league, with just seven strikes from his 25 appearances. Compare that to Rooney (5.9 shots per goal), Javier Hernandez (4.2 shots per goal) or even the lesser-spotted Dimitar Berbatov (2.1 shots per goal).

Alright, the last one might be a bit of an anomaly, as Berbatov scored most of his goals in a short spell around the turn of the year when everything he touched went in.

While he hasn't played too many minutes over the season as a whole, most "goalscoring" forwards will look to record at least a goal in five or six attempts. Welbeck needs to seriously improve his goalscoring in this aspect to become United's go-to man up front.

QPR Facing 2 Must-Win Games

Following the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United, Mark Hughes and QPR know they have a massive week ahead of them, with two must-win fixtures coming up.

QPR finish their season with games against Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester City in their last four matches. Points will be extremely difficult to come by there, so their next two games—Swansea City at home and West Brom away—are the two most important games of their whole season.

Two wins would see them reach 34 points; not a guarantee of safety by any means, but a big step closer to it.

Defeat in both matches will almost surely consign them to the drop after a single season in the top-flight.

The Title Is Manchester United's

Some seasons, the race for Premier League glory goes right to the wire.

This year, the title race was effectively over by the end of the first week of April.

After beating QPR, Manchester United went eight points clear at the top, and following Manchester City's late 1-0 reversal to Arsenal, that remains the gap, with just six matches left of the campaign.

Barring a complete implosion from the most experienced side around in regards to title challenges, the game is up.

Manchester United are going to retain their trophy.