Luis Nani fired defending champions Manchester United to a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in an exciting Premiership clash at Old Trafford on Sunday. Both teams were goalless in the first half.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are now on five points after four games while Spurs remain on three points in same number of games as pressure mounts on their manager Martin Jol, who will however feel his side should have had a second half penalty.

Spurs started in right earnest as Robbie Keane struck the cross bar with a long-range shot after Dimitar Berbatov had a subtle touch to set up the stand-in skipper in the first minute.

United had a half chance in the 8th minute but Carlos Tevez could not reach the ball inside Spurs box before goalkeeper Paul Robinson did. The home side settled down and after a neat build-up saw skipper Ryan Giggs’ effort from tight angle easily collected by the England keeper.

Tottenham left-back Gareth Bale on his debut start, made early impression as he embarked on a determined run and won a corner for his side in the 13th minute. And off a resultant delivery, Pascal Chimbonda’s glancing header missed the target by a narrow margin.

Spurs’ Ricardo Rocha skied a wild shot following a free-kick with United failing to clear the lines and a touch from Keane seeing the Portuguese defender failing to control his strike.

Nemanja Vidic came up with an absolutely vital tackle in the 19th minute as Berbatov had caught Rio Ferdinand napping and was in a position to pull the trigger. At the other end, Robinson made a good save off Ferdinand shot from the box following a set piece as the England centre-back signalled his attacking intent.

United enjoyed a good spell in the rival territory midway through the first half but Spurs defence held on well while Michael Carrick saw his shot curl just wide of the target.

Paul Scholes’ clever touch went just above the cross bar after Giggs had sent in a brilliant ball inside the box in the 27th minute. The move was initiated by a quickly-taken free-kick by keeper Edwin Van der Sar to find Tevez on the left side of Spurs box.

Spurs defended well thereafter as United poured forward in search of the opener. At the opposite end, Tom Huddlestone tried a long-range shot but failed to get hold of it and dragged it wide of Van der Sar’s goal.

In the 40th minute, Nani pulled his shot wide from the box after Scholes and Carrick combined to set up the Portuguese winger.

Both sides continued in the attacking fashion in the second half but Spurs’ Huddlestone saw his effort sail wide of the mark after Lee Young-Pyo had made a promising run from left.

Spurs missed a simple opportunity to score when Ricardo Rocha, who was unchallenged in the six yard box, failed to direct his free header on target following a free kick by Bale from right side, in the 56th minute.

The Red Devils put their opponents under a lot of pressure at the hour-mark but failed to break through the stubborn defence. However, the resilient Spurs could have had a lead but after Bale drove them forward, and set up Berbatov, who being off-balance tried a flick and Ferdinand sprinted back to make a goalline clearance.

Minutes later, Wes Brown threw in himself as Berbatov’s flick was bound for the goal after Van der Sar was out of his position sliding in. The ball seemed to have hit Brown’s hand but the officials deemed it unintentional.

At the other end, Robinson made a good save but his punched clearance fell to Tevez, whose grounder was cleared off goalline by Jermaine Jenas.

Finally, United managed to score in the 68th minute and it took a sizzling shot from Nani from 25 yards out to beat Robinson. A neat build-up in a frantic end-to-end battle, saw substitute Chris Eagles and Tevez play an important part as the new signing from Sporting Lisbon produced a sensational goal that was his first in the Premiership for the Red Devils.

Berbatov showed brilliant skills to control a floater and turned to hit a shot that however missed the top left corner of Van der Sar’s goal by narrowest of margins in the 79th minute.

Teams
Manchester United: Edwin Van der Sar, Wes Brown, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick (Chris Eagles 56), Ryan Giggs, Owen Hargreaves, Luis Nani, Paul Scholes, Carlos Tevez (Darren Fletcher 77).

Substitutes not used: Tomasz Kuszczak, John O'Shea, Fangzhou Dong.

Tottenham: Paul Robinson, Gareth Bale, Pascal Chimbonda, Anthony Gardner, Young-Pyo Lee (Adel Taarabt 75), Ricardo Rocha (Didier Zokora 82), Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Steed Malbranque, Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane (Jermain Defoe 75).

Substitutes not used: Radek Cerny, Paul Stalteri.