The 37-year-old turned in yet another exemplary performance at the Stadium of Light yesterday as his side suffered the heartache of seeing the Barclays Premier League title snatched from their grasp by arch-rivals Manchester City with the season entering its death throes.

Scholes came out of retirement in January to help revive United's ultimately fruitless bid to keep the title out of the hands of their neighbours, and contributed significantly to a concerted fightback which fell only just short.

Having seen him at close hand once again, O'Neill was quick to point his emerging players in the former England international's direction.

He said: "We were playing against a real quality team. I just mentioned to the players in the dressing room, 'That's what you should be aspiring to, that sort of ability'.

"There's Paul Scholes, who has been one of the great players in the last 25 years in this game, and he has come out of retirement and looks as if he's never been away.

"He looks as if he is 26 years of age rather than anything else.

"It's a lot for our younger midfield players to be having a look at and see what you can do.

"Now I am not saying every single player who looks at a great player like Scholes can automatically do what he does, but that's the sort of benchmark that you should be looking at and trying to achieve, even if you fall short."

It proved a strange afternoon on Wearside as both teams ended the day as losers, if in very different ways.

The record books will show that United won the game and the three points on offer courtesy of Wayne Rooney's close-range 20th-minute header.

The England striker might have helped himself to a hat-trick or more with one glaring miss, the crossbar and the brilliance of keeper Simon Mignolet, who kept the Black Cats in it to the death, denying him the chance to increase his season's tally of 35 goals any further.

The final whistle brought defeat, but respectable defeat, for the home side and, all too briefly, joy for the visitors until a roar from the locals provided the first indication that something had gone very, very awry, at least in United's eyes, at the Etihad Stadium.

O'Neill said: "For it all to go so dramatically wrong in the last couple of minutes for them and so brilliantly for Manchester City, it was surreal."

As opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson immediately turned his attention to the quest to recapture a trophy which has spent much of its lifetime to date at Old Trafford, O'Neill reflected upon an odd season for his club, one which left many questions unanswered.

On December 4, he watched the side he was to inherit from Steve Bruce lose 2-1 at Wolves to leave them with just 11 points from their first 14 games and in relegation trouble.

The recovery fostered by the Ulsterman was little short of remarkable with his first 10 league fixtures yielding seven wins, a draw and only two defeats representing a return of 22 points from a possible 30.

While safety was not mathematically assured, the Black Cats were looking very much towards the top 10 rather than the bottom three, and as a result 12 points from their final 14 games was disappointing to say the least.

Sunderland finished the season in 13th on 45 points, three places and two points worse off than last season, although given the traumatic opening months of the campaign, O'Neill was relatively content.

He said: "I couldn't ask for anymore, put it that way. Really, the effort they have put in from December right through probably to some time in late March has been incredible.

"We have given everything during the course of it - we fall short, obviously, because we are lacking a number of things, but overall, the effort of the team has been fantastic and the response from the supporters has been great.

"I really can't ask for much more from that stand-point."

O'Neill will spend the summer re-shaping his squad - Nicklas Bendtner, who did not make the 18 yesterday, will return to parent club Arsenal, while Asamoah Gyan's future appears to lie elsewhere - and re-calibrating their aspirations for the new campaign.