Patrice Evra has issued a stark warning to his Manchester United team-mates in the wake of their 3-1 win over Chelsea; Any more of that and forget about retaining the title.

It may seem like an extreme reaction after extending a 100% start to their Premier League campaign to five games, in the process matching a record of 18 successive home wins.

However, stand-in skipper Evra was not amused by a game Sir Alex Ferguson likened to basketball, in which Chelsea had 21 shots on United’s goal, yet somehow managed to find the net only once.

Although London’s three major clubs have now been accounted for at Old Trafford, the France full-back is acutely aware there is so much tricky opposition still to face, starting next Saturday at Stoke, that United cannot afford to be so loose in their defending again.

“Maybe I am being hard on myself but it is the first time we didn’t control the game,” he said.

“We have five wins. Yes, it is a good start but I always want more. I hope we control the next game against Stoke.

“We shouldn't rush things. That is why we gave the ball away too easily. That is why I am not so happy.

“We won a big game. We have scored three times against Chelsea. There are a lot of positive things.

“But when they scored the early goal in the second half I thought ‘We have to be strong to make sure Chelsea don’t come back and maybe even win 4-3’.

“If we want to win the league we will have to perform better.”

Including the Community Shield, United have now scored 25 times in seven matches, conceding on seven occasions,

It is a quite amazing statistic for a team that has built its last couple of championship successes on being solid at the back and nicking chances when they arrive.

From a United perspective, much of the focus was on Wayne Rooney’s penalty miss, “I prefer Wayne did it then rather than in Moscow” was Evra’s reaction, recalling John
Terry’s fateful slip in the 2008 Champions League final.

Rooney blew arguably an even better chance when he tapped against the post, triggering the “reckless” tackle by Ashley Cole that threatens to rule Javier Hernandez out for a fortnight.

At the end, Ferguson correctly pointed out the woeful pass Rooney played to Dimitar Berbatov, turning what should have been a tap-in for the Bulgarian into a shot on the stretch which Cole managed to scramble away.

Now, though, there are a few issues for Ferguson to deal with.

If Hernandez is ruled out for a fortnight, as was the manager's initial reaction, Danny Welbeck will have to be rushed back from a hamstring injury at Stoke this weekend or Berbatov will need to be trusted, something Ferguson has yet to show any sign of.

At the other end, Rio Ferdinand's complete absence on Sun went unexplained and skipper Nemanja Vidic is still thought to be a couple of weeks of making a full recovery from a calf injury sustained at West Brom on the opening day of the season.

The obvious counterweight to that twin injury woe has been the introduction of Phil Jones, whose performances have been of such a high standard that it would be hard to justify his exclusion even when Ferdinand and Vidic return.

At just 19, Jones is the epitome of United’s youthful exuberance.

That is two league games on the trot now where he has created goals for Rooney after surging into the penalty area from halfway.

“These young lads are enjoying themselves,” said Michael Carrick.

“They have got an opportunity they possibly didn't think would come so soon. Now they have the chance, they want to make the most of it.

“When you are so young, you have never really had any setbacks.

“You just play the game freely and with enthusiasm and enjoy it. They are certainly doing that at the moment.” Tweet