Ruud van Nistelrooy's first-half penalty ensured Manchester United won successive Premiership matches for the first time this season. The Dutch striker, who had a goal ruled out for offside, converted after Erik Edman had fouled John O'Shea.

Robbie Keane made a superb block to deny Mikael Silvestre and Paul Robinson saved a David Bellion header as United pushed for a second.

Spurs created few openings and their unbeaten start has come to an end.

But after an inconsistent start to the campaign United are clearly benefiting from the return of key players.

Rio Ferdinand was impressive in his second match since his suspension ended and Wayne Rooney is close to full fitness.

But the match was by no means a classic.

The first half was largely uninspired and at times looked more like a training match than a high-profile Premiership encounter.

Spurs went into the game with Freddie Kanoute, Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe all starting for the first time in a Premiership match under Jacques Santini.

But the home team struggled to string a series of passes together and Santini opted to replace Kanoute with Simon Davies after 30 minutes.

United, with Alan Smith in for Paul Scholes, had the bulk of the possession and looked for the effervescent Cristiano Ronaldo, full of feints and stepovers, as often as possible.

But they too lacked a cutting edge and neither goalkeeper was seriously tested until a Van Nistelrooy strike took a double deflection after 27 minutes.

His drilled cross struck Mbulelo Mabizela and then Ledley King, forcing Robinson to make a sharp save low to his left.

Spurs best first-half effort came from Pedro Mendes, who almost caught Roy Carroll unawares with an opportunistic long-range strike that had the Irishman scrambling.

Ryan Giggs then drilled a long-range effort wide before United took the lead.

O'Shea appeared to have been tripped in the Spurs area in the opening minutes of the game, but referee Phillip Walton had no hesitation in awarding a penalty when he went down after 41 minutes.

O'Shea tangled with Edman and Van Nistelrooy made no mistake from the subsequent spot-kick, clinically striking the ball past Robinson.

Tottenham tried to take the game to United after the break, with Defoe impressing in front of England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was watching from the stands.

But United created the better chances.

Van Nistelrooy put the ball in the net with typical poacher's finish from short range, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Ronaldo collected a sweeping pass on the right and cut inside past Edman before forcing Robinson into an excellent save.

And as United pushed for a killer second Robbie Keane made a superb block to thwart Mikael Silvestre.

Gabriel Heinze's back flick from a corner gave Silvestre a clean shot at goal from just eight yards but Keane bravely charged off the line to block.

Robinson made a point-blank block from Bellion, who met Ronaldo's superb cross with a diving header.

Spurs had a chance late on, but Carroll comfortably held Robbie Keane's shot and the three points headed north.