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Man United 2 Tottenham 3:

Old Trafford is known as The Theatre of Dreams because of nights like this.

Tottenham Hotspur ended 23 years of hurt by holding off a magnificent Manchester United fightback and for once nobody in the 76,000 crowd could complain about the steep cost of a Premier League ticket.

With supersonic Gareth Bale unplayable and United veterans Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand struggling to keep up, this was a famous win for Tottenham's 34-year-old boss Andre Villas-Boas and left Sir Alex Ferguson, old enough to be his grandfather, plenty of food for thought.

There it is! Clint Dempsey scored Tottenham's third goal at Old Trafford

MATCH FACTS

Man United: Lindegaard; Rafael, Ferdinand (Hernandez 90+2min), Evans, Evra; Carrick, Scholes; Nani, Kagawa (Welbeck 79min), Giggs (Rooney 46min); Van Persie.

Subs not used: De Gea, Wootton, Anderson, Cleverley.

Goals: Nani 51, Kagawa 53.

Tottenham: Friedel; Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen; Sandro, Dembele (Huddlestone 83min); Lennon, Dempsey (Sigurdsson 69min), Bale; Defoe (Dawson 90+2min).

Subs not used: Lloris, Falque, Townsend, Mason.

Goals: Vertonghen 3, Bale 32, Dempsey 52.

Referee: Chris Foy.

Attendance: 75,500

Despite a poor record at Old Trafford – no win since Gary Lineker's goal in the 1989 Downing Street days of Margaret Thatcher - Villas-Boas promised to attack and was as good as his word, even though Bale spent last week on his sickbed with a sore throat and fever.

Emergency left-back Jan Vertonghen and Bale tore Nani and Rafael to pieces down their flank, both getting on the scoresheet before half-time with Bale sprinting past Ferdinand for his goal like a Bullet train passing a steam engine.

By the time half-time substitute Wayne Rooney sparked an incredible spell of three goals in two minutes - two for United with Clint Dempsey's winner sandwiched in between - Spurs were just too far ahead to be caught.

But what a fight United put up. Rooney hit a post, Michael Carrick struck the bar and Tottenham's 41-year-old goalkeeper Brad Friedel made excellent late saves from Scholes and Patrice Evra.

United will point to a few penalty shouts, none of them conclusive, but few would begrudge Spurs an historic win, which left both teams in the pack chasing leaders Chelsea.

Happy? Andre Villas-Boas was delighted when his side won the match

...And so were his players as they applauded the travelling fans

'It was three points that I hope will serve as an inspiration for the future,' said Villas-Boas, who surrendered a three-goal lead against United when at Chelsea last season.

'The way we played in the first half was unbelievable. We had so much authority and confidence, it is uncommon to see on this ground.

'It was a team who believed in each other and the focus and desire to take it to the end. Bale only trained one day during the week. He feels dead now but was magnificent.'

Ferguson said: 'It was a quite a game. We never started in the first half. We defended poorly but we were fantastic in the second half and should have got something.

'Wayne's arrival helped, but mostly our attitude changed. We got stuck in and went to win the ball rather than standing off.'

What a strike: Gareth Bale scored a classy goal to double Tottenham's lead

Close call: Both sides went hell-for-leather to take the win at Old Trafford

Tottenham have not had the best of luck at United in recent years.

A Pedro Mendes shot that crossed the line wasn't awarded in 2005. Two years ago, Nani scored as Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes prepared to take a goal-kick he thought had been given.

This time, Villas-Boas's side left nothing to chance. The game wasn't two minutes old when Vertonghen surged on to a Bale pass.

The big Belgian didn't ever have the ball under full control but he didn't need to as United backed off and allowed him to shoot home with the aid of a Jonny Evans deflection.

Just checking: Sir Alex Ferguson took his United players in at 2-0 down at half-time

From the off: Jan Vertonghen scored an early goal to get the ball rolling

It was Vertonghen's first League goal since a £12million move from Ajax in the summer.

The second goal after 32 minutes underlined why Bale is the most exciting player in the Premier League on his day.

He collected from Mousa Dembele on halfway, powered forward as Scholes didn't even make an attempt to get near him, and Ferdinand's efforts were humiliating as the Welshman sped past and hit a right-footed finish beyond Anders Lindegaard.

The United crowd shouted for Rooney, recently recovered from a badly gashed thigh, and Ferguson hauled off Giggs at the interval.

It sparked an incredible scoring spell, Rooney starting it off after 51 minutes by bending in a cross for Nani to score at the near post.

But before the celebration had died down, Spurs regained their two-goal advantage with more suspect defending from Ferdinand, whom Ferguson has urged to retire from international football to concentrate on winning a new contract when his current one expires in the summer.

Jermain Defoe forced his way past the leaden-footed Ferdinand and played in Bale.

The Welshman fired in a forceful shot that Lindegaard parried and Dempsey gobbled up the rebound for his first Tottenham goal since his dramatic £6million deadline- day move from Fulham.

That body-blow would have killed off most teams - but not United. Just 60 seconds later, Robin van Persie threaded a pass into Shinji Kagawa's path and he slid an inchperfect finish past Friedel.

A penalty appeal against Sandro for handball was waved away, Friedel made more saves and United threw everyone forward, including Lindegaard in injury time.

It was breathless stuff, too breathless for some of United's veterans.