Manchester United claimed their first victory of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. The game seemed to be following a familiar pattern with United having the bulk of the possession without a cutting edge in attack. That was until Reds new boy Nani picked up the ball, advanced on goal and scored with a fabulous strike from 30 yards that flew past Spurs keeper Paul Robinson. Replays show that there was a slight deflection off the head of Carlos Tevez but that takes nothing away from the quality of the strike.

Nani’s first goal of the Premier League season could not have come at a better time, I’m sure Sir Alex Ferguson won’t be giving the young Portugese star the hairdryer over his fantastic tumbling goal celebration this time - another goal-less draw may have meant curtains for United’s title challenge.

Tottenham Hotspur were unlucky, they battled well throughout, Robbie Keane hit the crossbar after only 20 seconds, they had two legitimate penalty claims turned down and Dimitar Berbatov put in a fantastic performance, showing why United have been so interested in him. The Bulgarian striker showed some great skill and movement in attack, showing the United fans what they are missing - he is just the type of player that is missing from the Reds line up at the moment.

Manchester United were restricted to long range goal efforts thoughout, Owen Hargreaves on his Old Trafford debut, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick all going close. Carlos Tevez ploughed a lone furrow at centre forward and was largely ineffective, there was a glaring lack of support for the Argentine striker and it’s clear Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are sorely missed.