Manchester scrape by with a 1-0 win against Everton

Manchester United were lucky to seal a win against Everton. After draws with Portsmouth, Reading and Manchester City, it managed to return to winning ways with 1-0 victories against Tottenham and Sunderland.

In this match, the same thing happened. The football wasn't pretty. Missing were the fluent passing and attacking brilliance of last season. But call it what you like, sheer luck or the winner's mentality, it is three points in the bag, so no complains there.

Much was expected of Cristiano Ronaldo as he returned after a 3-match suspension but he did not have significant impact on the game, possibly due to the fact that he was played out of position by slotting into a striker's role like Tevez.

It looked like a lost cause until the goal from Nemanja Vidic as Alex Ferguson has exhausted all his attacking options. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were throw into the fray and between Nani, Tevez, Ronaldo and Saha, none of them could muster a goal. It was up to a defender to breach Everton's defence.

Incidentally, Everton's first choice keeper, Tim Howard, was declared unfit for the match due to a dislocated finger. Hence, credit must be given to Everton for putting up a spirited display and restricted United to long range shots. The defenders ceded little space to the visitors and it was harsh that Everton was not able to pocket at least a point from this match.

Alex Ferguson admitted that the way his team was playing was not ideal.

"It was a strong performance by us, rather than a great performance. "The players understand that, until everyone is back, we have to play really well as a team."

"It looked to me as if we were heading for a draw again, but Nemanja popped up and he has simply got that determination, he has got that courage and conviction of scoring in the box to get goals like that."

"It was a very tough game. They were really fired up. The fans got them going and influenced the game a lot. I think the ref fell for that a bit."

With Rooney back in training and the fact that they are back in the top four, playing in this boring manner while Ferguson whip the team back into the shape, may not be that bad after all.