Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur - Barclays Premier League

A late goal from Nani and a first-half header by Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic ensured Tottenham Hotspur's 21-year wait for victory at Old Trafford continued.

United captain Vidic opened the scoring with a header after 31 pulsating minutes before Nani reacted quickest to some goalmouth confusion to prod home five minutes from time.

With just two minutes gone Park Ji-sung had come within a whisker of giving United the lead, taking a couple of touches to line up a shot before letting fly from 25 yards. His low effort had Gomes well beaten but cannoned off the post to safety.

Nani also found room to shoot in the opening minutes but this time Gomes made a straightforward save.

Spurs did not allow themselves to be shellshocked by United's busy start and only a precision tackle by Darren Fletcher stopped Aaron Lennon testing Edwin van der Sar after a swift counter-attack in the fourth minute.

Rafael van der Vaart then matched Park's earlier effort, holding possession despite tumbling to the floor before rising to curl the ball against the far post.

Chances continued to come at both ends - Van der Vaart drilling over for the visitors and Park missing the target after some neat footwork in the Tottenham area.

By now United were looking the better side and Spurs survived another nervy moment when Gomes spilled Michael Carrick's shot before gathering again with Javier Hernandez lurking.

Tottenham looked capable of catching their opponents on the break but United's attacks were producing more clear-cut opportunities.

Fletcher missed the latest of them after 25 minutes, failing to convert from the edge of the box after some patient approach play from Nani.

A clumsy Younes Kaboul challenge after half an hour gave the Red Devils the chance to attack from a set-piece and they duly cashed in. Nani floated in the free-kick in from the left and Vidic eased in front of Benoit Assou-Ekotto to head home.

A quickly-taken throw by Gareth Bale, who started despite Harry Redknapp's suggestion that he may be rested, gave Van der Vaart a sight of goal soon after but he mishit his shot.

Luka Modric did better with a sweetly-struck half-volley from the Holland star's corner a minute later but Van der Sar was on hand with a vital diving save.

Dimitar Berbatov could have doubled the lead over his old club just before the interval but a combination of Gomes and William Gallas stifled him.

As in the first half, United came out firing at the start of the second, with both Hernandez and Berbatov just failing to get clean shots away in the opening moments.

Robbie Keane and Jermaine Jenas, both drafted in to the starting XI for this match, were looking distinctly off the pace in key positions for Spurs.

In the 59th minute, Bale finally gave the away support something to cheer. In a passage reminiscent of his memorable Champions League hat-trick against Inter Milan he strode past a handful of red shirts and bore down on goal, only to see his shot squirm just wide of Van der Sar's far post.

Keane gave way to Roman Pavlyuchenko just past the hour mark, handing the captaincy to Modric in the process.

After Van der Vaart failed to beat Van der Sar from a tight angle, Pavlyuchenko almost got lucky when his 25-yard effort nearly found its way over the line courtesy of Vidic's deflection, before Peter Crouch replaced Van der Vaart - who looked in a little discomfort as he left the pitch - in the 77th minute.

Nani's strike ended matters, with the officials judging play to be active when keeper Gomes placed the ball down in his area after an unsuccessful penalty appeal.

Gomes clearly believed he was lining up a dead ball but the Portuguese winger was the only one on the referee's wavelength and rolled the ball in.

Everton 3-3 Manchester United

Everton scored twice in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Manchester United.

After a turbulent week, Wayne Rooney did not even travel to Goodison Park as manager Sir Alex Ferguson, on the occasion of his 700th Premier League match, said he wanted to protect the 24-year-old from abuse from the fans with whom he used to be a favourite.

The disruption appeared to affect his team-mates early on as they fell behind to a Steven Pienaar goal but Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov put United well ahead before the Toffees' stunning late comeback through Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta.

Rooney's absence seemed to affect United more than they expected as, for the first 15 minutes, they found themselves under constant pressure.

First Arteta's sixth-minute free-kick clipped the top of the bar.

The Spaniard had another shot deflected behind by Jonny Evans, Pienaar saw his shot from the Spaniard's corner blocked and Leon Osman blazed over all in the same passage of play.

Ferguson was less than happy and was soon prowling his technical area barking orders at the players.

John O'Shea's response was a blistering drive from the left angle of the penalty area which grazed the outside of Tim Howard's left-hand post.

Everton's pressure, albeit slightly less intense, continued while Nani was off the field having a cut lip tended with Cahill, Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines all failed to trouble the goalkeeper with half-chances.

There was always the danger their failure to capitalise on possession would leave the way open for United to nick a goal and they almost did in the 34th minute.

Tony Hibbert's foul on Ryan Giggs, despite winning the ball, saw Nani roll the free-kick to Paul Scholes and his powerful drive took a big deflection off Cahill but Howard, diving in the opposite direction, somehow diverted the ball over with his foot.

Four minutes later the American goalkeeper stuck up a hand to palm away Giggs' close-range shot after United counter-attacked.

But the visitors were caught cold themselves when Patrice Evra missed an ambitious overhead-kick clearance to put Arteta charging through on goal and although he shot straight at Edwin Van der Sar,

Osman turned the rebound to Pienaar at the far post who rolled home.

Two minutes before half-time, however, Nani's cross was diverted home by Fletcher and Berbatov's volley almost put them ahead in added time.

It was apparent at the start of the second half Everton were in for a tougher test and it took just three minutes for that to become a reality.

Nani's corner from Berbatov's deflected shot was only half-cleared and when Scholes returned the ball to the Portugal international wide on the right he swung over a cross for an unmarked Vidic to head in from five yards.

It at least provoked a reaction from Everton and Pienaar's curling 20-yard shot was held by Van der Sar at the second attempt.

But United were where they like to be, in control and able to counter-attack, and one rapid foray forward saw Howard deny Nani low to his right.

He got nowhere near the next one in the 66th minute, which owed everything to the brilliance of Scholes and Berbatov.

The former England international's raking pass picked out the Bulgarian wide on the right and his first touch brilliantly took him clear of Sylvain Distin.

With acres of space to run into the striker took five or six paces before lashing an early shot into the bottom corner, taking Howard by surprise.

Baines curled a free-kick into the side-netting and as Osman hit a woefully-weak shot at Van der Sar as the hosts tried to find a way back but, as has been the case in their previous matches, they lacked a cutting edge.

However, in a dramatic finish Cahill headed home in injury-time before Arteta's deflected strike snatched an unlikely point.

News in Brief - Thurs 2nd Sep

Nemanja Vidic is loving the responsibility of wearing the captain's armband at Manchester United. After signing a new four-year contract, the Serbian has taken over from Patrice Evra as Sir Alex Ferguson's preferred choice as skipper in the continued absence of Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville. Vidic won his first silverware in the role last month when United beat Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley and on Saturday, the 29-year-old kept the job even though Ryan Giggs started the victory against West Ham at Old Trafford. "It is a big achievement for me," he said. "No-one is going to say they don't want to be the captain of Manchester United and I am very happy with it. It is a major responsibility but I have always liked responsibility. I am not a player who shies away from it. Nothing has really changed in that respect."

Chicharito settling in

Nemanja Vidic is impressed by the way Javier Hernandez has adapted to life at United, while Paul Scholes has likened Chicharito's clinical finishing to former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Hernandez scored on his competitive debut in Sunday’s Community Shield win over Chelsea, having already hit two goals for the Reds in pre-season.

"He looks sharp," Vidic told MUTV. "He likes the ball played in behind the defence, he has pace and has scored already, which will be great for his confidence. He seems like he's enjoying himself, he speaks English well and that’s helped him to settle more quickly. It's like he's been here for three years!"

And when Scholes is almost effusive with his praise, you know the recipient must be worthy of it. "He looks like an out-and-out goalscorer," says Scholes. "That’s not to say he can’t play outside the box as well, because when the ball comes up to him his touch is good as well. But he's a threat in behind defenders, and hopefully he’ll score a lot of goals this year.

"People say he's like Ole, and I thought that the first time I saw him in training. We did a finishing session and everything was in the bottom corner. He scores whenever he gets a chance

He comes on and looks lively. He’s adapted to the pace of the game already. He's capable of scoring goals and if he’s anything like Ole, we’ll take that."

Vidic, who was captain for the day at Wembley, was also pleased to see Dimitar Berbatov get on the scoresheet with an exquisite chip in stoppage-time. "Everything Dimi does on the pitch is brilliant, but for him it's important to score goals too," the Serbian said. "I hope he gets a few this year to help us win trophies."

Vida’s happy to have ended speculation about his future by agreeing a new long-term deal at the end of last month. "I'm happy everyone is behind me," he added. "In my head I was clear, but now all the talk off the pitch will stop and that's helpful for me and the fans."

Man Utd's Vidic: Valencia froze under Ronaldo pressure

Nemanja Vidic has revealed how new Manchester United teammate Antonio Valencia struggled to cope at the start of the season with the pressure of succeeding Cristiano Ronaldo.

But the Serbia defender believes Valencia is now showing his true worth after hitting two goals in two games for the Barclays Premier League champions.

Vidic said: "At the beginning of the season, Antonio had some difficulties because he was bought to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

"The media paid special attention and were watching his every move, and the pressure paralysed him a little.

"He is a real artist, gradually gaining confidence and playing better and better with each match. Scoring will help him even more."