THE OBSERVER
This was not the sort of performance to silence Manchester United's critics, though a welcome three points after two Premiership defeats should put the crisis talk into perspective. Particularly as Tottenham Hotspur are no pushovers any longer, even if Gary Doherty had to spoil a gutsy display by pushing over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the decisive penalty.
The glossily revamped United programme costs a steepish three quid, but it is almost worth forking out for Sir Alex Ferguson's column. By way of a welcome to Spurs, he remarked that Glenn Hoddle is reaping the benefits of having had another year in which to get his ideas across to his players. Ferguson has rarely needed that long to communicate with his sides and suggestions that he has been losing his touch of late brought a predictably caustic response.
Spurs would not have been flattered by a draw and nearly had one at the end when Barthez needed all his agility to prevent Matthew Etherington's cross reaching Redknapp. Whether he would have scored is debatable. Both these teams could do with more decisive finishing.
THE INDIE
Tottenham Hotspur too high in the Premiership? Manchester United too low? This result gave an affirmative answer to both questions, but if you wanted conclusive proof it was not at Old Trafford yesterday.
United have not scored in open play in the Premiership since they drew with Sunderland, and they might have extended a run of only one domestic win in five matches but for Fabien Barthez's enterprise in the last minute. Spurs were three on one and would have had an open goal if Matthew Etherington could have found his colleagues at the far post. Instead the goalkeeper cut out the cross on his six-yard line.
As for the rest of the match, United dominated, would have scored many more but for the saves of Kasey Keller, yet failed to convince that their early-season trouble is just a blip. Tottenham? They looked what they are: a well- organised but limited side.
Seasons come and go but some things are constant, and Ferguson's dislike of journalists is one of them. "We mustn't let ourselves get rattled by the criticism that has been heaped on us lately," he wrote in the match programme, "so much of it plainly hostile... The main danger is if we start believing some of the stuff."
Dean Richards may have been lucky to survive a penalty claim when he brought down Van Nistelrooy, but as he clattered into Solskjaer 45 seconds later, he was nowhere near the ball. Van Nistelrooy, whose temper had looked increasingly volcanic, suddenly assumed the cool of a Buddhist monk and stroked the ball to Keller's left.
THE TELEGRAPH
Maybe Tottenham's position near the top of the Premiership is not a false one after all. Fielding a patched-up team and defending superbly, they defied Manchester United for two-thirds of this one-sided game and might easily have scored before Ruud van Nistelrooy finally ended the home side's frustration with his second Premiership goal of the season, both penalties.
It was not, then, the convincing victory all in United red had hoped for after the midweek Champions League goal-fest against Maccabi Haifa. That was partly because Kasey Keller was in inspired form between the posts for Spurs; but the home side's football still did not flow with the deadly smoothness of old and their finishing continued to lack the cutting edge that has deserted them in the Premiership.
The pattern of the first half did not take long to repeat itself after the interval. Inside the first two minutes of the second half, Keller made two more saves, first scrambling Van Nistelrooy's mis-hit shot for a corner, then diving full length to turn away a dipping Beckham free kick missed by a collection of straining heads. So the American international deserved his good luck when Van Nistelrooy's close-range shot hit him and rebounded to safety.
From a rare Spurs attack, Barthez had to race 20 yards out of his area to tackle Robbie Keane after the Republic of Ireland striker had caught Rio Ferdinand in possession: in another, the unmarked Richards swept Steffen Iversen's headed pass against Barthez's legs from no more than six yards.
But when United renewed the pressure, they finally scored after 62 minutes of trying. Referee Rob Styles had just refused the home side a penalty for what looked a very dubious challenge on Van Nistelrooy by Doherty when Solskjaer, driving at goal, appeared to fall over the same Tottenham defender. This time, Styles pointed to the spot and Van Nistelrooy converted the kick with a minimum of fuss.