Nani was the United hero in a 1-0 triumph at Old Trafford as he battered a 30-yarder past Paul Robinson deep into the second half via a small deflection off Carlos Tevez.

But Ferguson, who saw his side concede a string of chances to Martin Jol's team, admitted: "It was our least effective performance so far but in the end we got a win.

"This is not an easy league and there are a lot of games you have to battle through. Tottenham are the best team we have played, so this win will give us confidence."

In yesterday's other game, Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce was left fuming after his team twice took the lead at Middlesbrough before having to settle for a 2-2 draw.

"It is just unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable. If Newcastle United are to be successful, we have got to cut that out," he said of United's inability to hold a lead.

"We are bitterly disappointed that we have not clinched the three points."

Jose Mourinho was not satisfied after watching Chelsea move to the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Frank Lampard's 31st-minute shot was enough to beat David James and for the Blues to stretch their unbeaten home run to 65 games.

However, the manner of the victory was disappointing for Mourinho.

He said: "I can easily say I am happy with the points but I want my team to play better.

"If I can try to justify why we did not play the way I want my team to play I would say that it is our own fault of course."

A Cesc Fabregas goal helped Arsenal to secure a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.

He became the first player to beat City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel this season and boss Arsene Wenger was delighted with their spirit.

Wenger declared: "I was worried a bit but the side is ready to fight until the last second. We won with style, against a good side and we defended very well."

City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is more than happy with Schmeichel's form which has helped him postpone his search for a new goalkeeper.

He said: "After I saw Schmeichel the first time, I said that we would only get a new goalkeeper if we found a new Petr Cech or someone like that. The way he is playing at the moment, we could ask no more from him."

Everton came from a goal behind at Goodison Park to claim a 1-1 draw against Blackburn. Roque Santa Cruz opened the scoring for Rovers in the first half but James McFadden's close-range effort rescued a share of the spoils.

Everton manager David Moyes admitted his side had been second best for much of the first half.

He said: "We did okay early on but once they scored we were second best until the break. They played much better than us and I was happy we were only 1-0 down at the break."

Bolton finally got their season going with a 3-0 victory over Reading at the Reebok Stadium, much to the relief of Sammy Lee.

The Bolton manager watched goals from Gary Speed, Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Braaten provide proof of the spirit within the camp.

Lee said: "To get the win was all-important but the boys showed immense character as well because there has been an awful lot going on. The response was terrific."

A Shaun Maloney goal, in the dying seconds of an entertaining game, saw Aston Villa beat Fulham 2-1 at Villa Park.

Clint Dempsey had put Fulham in front but a Zat Knight own goal levelled the scores only for Maloney to pinch the points at the death.

A delighted Martin O'Neill, who was sent to the stands by referee Steve Bennett following a verbal confrontation towards the end of the first half, said: "First half, we were always chasing it and Fulham to their credit have come here and did not shut up shop and caught us on the hop a little bit, so from the fact that we've been chasing it all afternoon, I'm delighted that we've won."

Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez bemoaned his team's failure to hang on to a lead.

He said: "We've given a lead away again and it's something that we need to stop doing. When you're in the lead in the Premier League, you can't afford to come away with nothing from it and we've done that three times this season."

Birmingham's Cameron Jerome scored twice to overcome plucky Derby. Jerome put City in front in the first minute but Matt Oakley's leveller looked to have got Derby back into game.

But Jerome's second in the 63rd minute ended the contest and City boss Steve Bruce said: "I'm delighted with the performance we've put in again. We made it hard for ourselves, but the number of chances we've created we could have been four-up at half-time."

Derby manager Billy Davies said his side were still on a learning curve following their promotion.

He said: "The learning curve from last week was don't lose an early goal, defend the opening 15 minutes with your life, be difficult to beat at the start of every game, and we've done the exact opposite. We lost a silly goal. It was a very, very poor individual error."

Paul Scharner's brilliant overhead effort looked to have handed Wigan a fantastic away win at West Ham, but Lee Bowyer rescued a point for Alan Curbishley's side.

Curbishley said: "I'm disappointed we had to come back after dominating the game because, by half-time with the amount of possession we had, we should certainly have got something."

Wigan boss Chris Hutchings said: "We have done okay so far but we won't get carried away. We've got seven points but we just have to keep it going."

In Saturday's early kick-off, a goal in each half saw Liverpool take away maximum points from Sunderland's Stadium of Light thanks to a hard-earned 2-0 victory.

Mohamed Sissoko's 37th-minute shot put the visitors ahead before Andrei Voronin added the second in the 87th minute with a crisp finish.