Full time report: Manchester United v Tottenham
Manchester United 2 Tottenham 0
A hugely-controversial goal from Nani left Tottenham incensed as Manchester United sealed a vital 2-0 victory against Harry Redknapp's side at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese winger poked the ball into the unguaded Tottenham net with five minutes of the match remaining, as Heurelho Gomes stood watching. The Spurs players protested to referee Mark Clattenburg – and his assistant on the touchline – but the goal was given.
Nani's goal doubled the hosts' advantage after Nemanja Vidic's powerful first-half header had put United ahead before the interval.
Both sides started brightly, and each were denied by the woodwork in the opening 10 minutes of the match.
The hosts almost took the lead in the 90th second as Park Ji-Sung smashed the post from 25-yards, sending a stark warning to their opponents.
However, Redknapp's men were unfazed by that early scare and came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock themselves through the in-form Rafael van der Vaart. The talented Dutch midfielder unleashed a stunning effort from the edge of the box, which crashed off Edwin van der Sar's right-hand post.
The two clubs both came into this match off the back of good recent form, which produced a tight opening 30 minutes. United needed inspiration from somewhere, and were provided with some on the 30th minute through their influential skipper.
A wonderful delivery from Nani, who continues his superb start to the season, from the right-hand side of the box, was met by a thumping header from Vidic. The 29-year-old's brilliant effort left Gomes with no chance, and extended Spurs' run without a clean sheet to 12 matches, as United went into half-time with their one goal lead intact.
The hero of last week, Javier Hernandez, had been anonymous during the first half, but he threatened to burst into life minutes after the break. The Mexico striker linked well with Park inside the Spurs penalty area, but failed to get his left-footed shot on target.
With the match neatly poised, Spurs began to press in search of an equaliser and very nearly found one through Gareth Bale.
The winger, who sent shockwaves across Europe earlier this month with a remarkable hat-trick against Inter Milan, embarked on a mazy run from the half-way line, using his blistering pace to glide past a host of Manchester United defenders, and shot inches wide of Van der Sar's post with his unfavoured right-foot.
It was another breathtaking run from the Wales international, who continues to find himself linked with a transfer to one of the biggest teams on the continent, including the Red Devils.
In a bid to retain possession and let the clock tick down, Sir Alex Ferguson withdrew Rafael and Dimitar Berbatov for Wes Brown and Paul Scholes respectively. Not long after, though, Hernandez almost doubled the hosts' advantage with an instinctive strike from just inside the penalty area, which Gomes was equal to.
Spurs then went close through Van der Vaart and substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko, but the visitors were dealt a major blow with 15 minutes of the match remaining as their Dutch superstar was forced off with a hamstring injury, jeopardising his chances of appearing in Tuesday's Champions League clash against Inter Milan.
Redknapp deployed Peter Crouch in a last-ditch attempt to salvage something from the match, although it was United who looked the most dangerous.
And five minutes before full-time, United netted their second, as the match descended into chaos.
Nani made the most of a challenge from Younes Kaboul inside the penalty area and handled the ball in the belief that he should have been awarded a penalty. Then, moments later, Gomes put the ball down, presuming that a free-kick had been given, only for the alert Nani to slot the ball into the empty net.
Replays showed that Clattenburg had not awarded the free-kick, although questions will be asked as to why it wasn't.
Five years ago, Clattenburg was the referee at the centre of the infamous Pedro Mendes 'ghost-goal' incident at Old Trafford, and the Spurs faithful will once again leave Manchester this evening feeling more than a touch aggrieved.
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