Robin van Persie has hailed Manchester United as "a special team" after his two goals helped them to a 4-0 win at Wigan Athletic.

Van Persie took his overall tally to 19 as United stayed seven points clear of their nearest rivals, Manchester City, with his first goal described as "absolutely magnificent" by Sir Alex Ferguson.

The goal involved the Dutchman collecting Javier Hernández's pass, stepping outside Iván Ramis, then inside the defender before curling expertly past Ali al-Habsi with his supposedly weaker right foot.

Van Persie said: "It was a good goal because every single touch was the right one. The first one was a little behind me and I had to drag it on to my left foot. Then I waited for the guy to slide in, had a good touch inside and then a quick finish. Three touches but all good touches."

Van Persie said his team-mates deserved to share the headlines, though, with Hernández also scoring twice.

"This is a special team," said Van Persie. "Everybody wants to help each other. Everybody's keen for everyone to score. Defenders are working their socks off for the midfielders, the midfielders are working for the strikers. Everybody wants to run and everybody has one target in their mind."

Roberto Martínez conceded his team were beaten by the better side, with the Latics lacking sufficient strength in depth to cope with a run of four games in 11 days. "We didn't have the legs or the reaction and you have to congratulate Manchester United," Wigan's manager said. "They had the luxury of making changes and Van Persie and Hernández looked brighter and sharper. In the end it was a mismatch."

Wigan have since completed the loan signing from United of the 18-year-old Chile striker Angelo Henríquez, whom Martínez called "a very young man with huge potential".