Ferguson Rails at Referee But Cannot Hide United's Tired Showing

There was pride from Sir Alex Ferguson in his team's persistence and a spurious grievance over the supposed failings of the referee, Mark Clattenburg, but relief underpinned every comment. The two-point lead that Arsenal had opened at the head of the table could not be dwelt upon when Manchester United had deserved defeat.

It took an own-goal by Michael Dawson in the dregs of stoppage-time to prevent them from losing a fourth away match of their Premier League campaign. The champions were so jaded that Cristiano Ronaldo, as if bored with conventional awards, looked hellbent on collecting the booby prize for worst-performing star. He took it unchallenged.

Rival claims by Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes fizzled out because their anonymity did not last the course, with the pair withdrawn after an hour. They are, respectively, 34 and 33. These gifted footballers will still clear the age barrier with ease on occasion, so long as they are not confronted by a team of such purposeful energy as the one Juande Ramos is steadily constructing.

Ferguson, given longer to compose himself, would surely have avoided sounding so conceited afterwards. "There's something wrong when Manchester United are getting seven bookings," he grumbled, as if only paragons are found on his payroll. Allegations of inconsistency ensued, but the visitors benefited from Clattenburg's sporadic leniency as much as Tottenham Hotspur.

It was an index of United's desperation that four of their cautions came in the last 25 minutes. The final yellow card, admittedly, did follow the equalizer, when Carlos Tevez must have whipped off his shirt in disbelief as much as joy. The Argentinian had put pressure on Dawson as the substitute Nani's corner dropped at the near post but the decisive touch came from the centre-back.

Dawson had been sent off at Old Trafford the previous weekend after conceding a penalty in the FA Cup defeat. Ramos comforted the player on Saturday by extolling him.

"He is completely fine," the manager said when asked for a injury report on his wounded morale. "He was absolutely magnificent. Football is the way it is and today he was unlucky."

Followers of Tottenham did almost as good a job of being phlegmatic, despite the fact that a first win over United since 2001 had slipped the leash. Under Ramos the line-up is more organized and apparently fitter. Midfielders such as Steed Malbranque were tireless in the drudgery of marking or pursuing opponents.

In that environment, the right-back Alan Hutton made a confident debut after his £8m move from Rangers, even when Ronaldo tried his luck on that flank. Every Tottenham player got plenty of help in a tight-knit display and the goalkeeper, Radek Cerny, had only one save of note to make, when he parried a stinging drive from the substitute Anderson.

The dubiousness of Ferguson's pre-match claim that Wayne Rooney should stick to being a center-forward was exposed when he floundered there. It is United, after all, who have spent years developing him as a deep-lying attacker and it was only when he was switched towards the wing that the team improved. His booking will keep him out of Sunday's Manchester derby, punishing United rather more than the £25,000 fine for incurring six or more cautions in a game.

Jonathan Woodgate, on his home debut, was commanding. Implausibly, in view of his disrupted career, he may be regarded as the durable figure needed now that there is yet more anxiety about Ledley King, whose knee trouble has stopped him from appearing in the three fixtures since the tumultuous 5-1 victory over Arsenal in the Carling Cup.

Even without King, Ramos nearly imposed his will. Tottenham led, after 21 minutes, when Owen Hargreaves tackled Jermaine Jenas and the ball, with a slight and inadvertent touch from the falling midfielder's arm, ran to Aaron Lennon. Edwin van der Sar could do no more than push out the cutback to Dimitar Berbatov, who shot home.

After the interval the Bulgarian beat the substitute Michael Carrick and Wes Brown to set up Robbie Keane. The forward shot softly and directly at the goalkeeper, when a 2-0 deficit might have scuppered United. Tottenham, all the same, should damage many future adversaries beyond recovery.