Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

The sun is out in Manchester and so are thousands of fans who are flocking to Old Trafford for the big game. It's an very important match for both teams - United wouldn't want to settle for anything less than three points as Chelsea have a game in hand on them and Spurs wouldn't want to drop any points though they currently sit fourth in the table, Man City are three points behind but have a game in hand Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk Maybe this scarf seller outside the ground has just realised that the scarves are one of the last things people want to buy in the hot weather Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk A fan makes the most of the opportunity of being so close to Sir Alex Ferguson Photograph: Tom Jenkins The importance of the match can be seen on the faces of these tense United fans as kick-off approaches Photograph: Tom Jenkins Spurs huddle before the game Photograph: Tom Jenkins Luka Modric feels the force of a tackle Photograph: Tom Jenkins Bale needs to time his tackle on Valencia to perfection if he is to avoid giving away a penalty, and he does Photograph: Tom Jenkins Berbatov does well to get between King and Dawson and win the header, but it doesn't cause any Gomes any problems in the Spurs' goal Photograph: Tom Jenkins Harry Redknapp urges his team on Photograph: Tom Jenkins King manages to clear the ball before Valencia could get to it Photograph: Tom Jenkins Wayne Rooney, who will miss the rest of United's season, watches the game from his box, or maybe he's checking to see if the coast is clear for a cheeky pint like he did during the Chelsea match earlier this month Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk This time Gomes has to come and claim the ball, he manages to punch it clear of the waiting Berbatov Photograph: Tom Jenkins Just before the hour, Evra bursts into the Tottenham area and is upended by Assou-Ekotto, Howard Webb has no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Ryan Giggs confidently steps up and places a hard and fast spot kick into the bottom-left corner Photograph: Tom Jenkins United's lead lasts 12 minutes after Bale swings a corner in towards the head of Ledley King who has got between two United defenders. The Spurs' defender powers a header towards the far post and into the net Photograph: Tom Jenkins Dawson has lead in his boots as he allows Berbatov to out-jump him and the United striker gets a header in on goal Photograph: Tom Jenkins In the 82nd minute United regain the lead, much to the relief of Fergie and the Red fans inside Old Trafford. Macheda, pings a clever pass past the Tottenham back line, down the inside-right channel, for Nani to chase. The United forward romps into the box, takes control of the ball then draws Gomes off his line, and chips calmly home Photograph: Tom Jenkins Nani is still celebrating when his team-mates finally catch up him Photograph: Tom Jenkins Huddlestone wins this battle in the middle of the park as his outstretched leg beats Giggs to the ball Photograph: Tom Jenkins With five minutes to go Nani bounds towards the Spurs area down the inside left channel. Just as he reaches the area, Palacios brushes his back, allowing him to go down and win a legitimate penalty Photograph: Tom Jenkins Giggs steps up to take the penalty and this time puts it to the other side, Gomes guesses correctly again but the quality of Giggs' strike means that the ball is just out of his reach. That makes it 3-1 to United and with just 5 minutes, plus injury time, to go it looks like game over and three points to United Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk Then the United captain celebrates with fellow goal-scorer Nani Photograph: Tom Jenkins The United fans celebrates their team's victory which keeps the pressure on Chelsea who take on Stoke at Stamford Bridge tomorrow Photograph: Tom Jenkins