Premier League: Tottenham 1 Manchester United 3

Manchester United put an 11-point cushion between second and third with a 3-1 win at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

United still trail Manchester City by two points in the title race but manager Alex Ferguson will be buoyed by this win in north London.

An uneventful first half was dominated by a disallowed Spurs goal, Emmanuel Adebayor divisively judged to have handled before finishing, before Wayne Rooney headed home from a corner moments before the whistle.

Despite not being at the top of their game, United pushed clear after the interval, Ashley Young catching the eye first with a well-taken volley from a tough angle and then a delightful finish from outside the area to double his tally.

Jermain Defoe later secured a late consolation having capitalised upon a loose pass.

With shots scarce early, David de Gea made a key save near the 20-minute mark from Adebayor, having caused the chance himself with a poor clearance that was easily intercepted by Sandro.

The home side, starting to dominate, had the ball in the net in the 37th minute.

Lennon’s enterprising run inside the area from the left wing forged a chance for Adebayor, who received the ball via Louis Saha’s effort and bundled it into the net in a slightly scrambled manner, but referee Martin Atkinson disallowed it for hand ball.

Despite a period on the back foot, United edged in front just before half-time through a simple goal.

Young delivered an in-swinging corner from the left and Rooney’s impressive off-the-ball movement coupled with the strength to hold off Kyle Walker allowed him to head home.

Spurs resumed probing after the break and came close when Jake Livermore’s rasping shot took a thin deflection off Saha’s leg to threaten De Gea, but the Spaniard reacted quickly to d block with his arm.

Tottenham kept coming and Benoit Assou-Ekotto was next to get sight of goal, whipping in a free kick from the right flank that swerved and dipped but just cleared the bar.

Yet, despite being under pressure, United stretched their lead a minute later.

Luka Modric’s lazy marking let Nani through and the Portuguese played the ball across the area.

It broke to Young just past the far post who had a difficult angle but still found the net.

White Hart Lane was in shock and it only got worse for the north Londoners as Young picked the ball on the edge of the area.

The England winger pushed inside a little to get sight of the net and struck, placing his shot with delightful precision into the top-right corner.

There was, however, a late consolation for spurs. With 86 minutes gone, the United defence seemed to switch off and substitute Giggs’ poor pass allowed fellow replacement Defoe to run on and dispatch an uncomplicated finish past De Gea.