Ferguson thankful for 'lucky' Man Utd win

Man Utd striker Wayne Rooney (far right) heads them in front at Tottenham on Sunday

Manager admits champions were fortunate after 3-1 victory at Tottenham

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his side got lucky after their 3-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur in the Barclays Premier League.

United moved back to within two points of leaders Manchester City thanks to a Wayne Rooney header on the stroke of half-time and two second-half strikes from Ashley Young.

Spurs were the match's dominant side for long periods and Ferguson knows United had to hang on to earn their victory.

"We certainly carried a lot of luck today," said the Scot. "It was a great performance from Tottenham in the first half and maybe we got our tactics wrong.

"We improved in the second half and pushed up. In the first period we tried to drop off and bring them onto us a bit but it didn't work.

"At half-time I told the players to push up on top of their back four a bit more and not to allow them to build their play.

"We did much better at that, but it needed the second goal to give us the confidence in our game. After that we played very well."

The defeat leaves Tottenham 11 points behind United and 13 behind City, with Harry Redknapp's men now realistically out of the title race.

But Ferguson paid tribute to Spurs after his side became the first team since City in August - and only second of the season - to claim all three points at White Hart Lane.

"It was a massive performance from our defenders," he added. "Tottenham are a very good team - you have to consider that.

"That was only their second defeat at home since the start of the season.

"Scoring right on half-time was probably our first strike at goal. It was a nice finish from Wayne but a real killer for Tottenham. They were probably sat in the dressing room wondering how they were 1-0 down because they'd played ever so well.

"Their form at home has been absolutely fantastic so it was a massive result for us."