John O'Shea gave Man United the lead to take into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final with Arsenal.
The defender's nerveless 17th-minute effort was the least Sir Alex Ferguson's side deserved for a near faultless display, in which Manuel Almunia made a quartet of stunning saves and Cristiano Ronaldo rattled the Gunners' crossbar.
In addition, Ryan Giggs had a goal controversially disallowed for offside on his 800th appearance, meaning Arsenal headed home glad to still have a chance of reaching Rome on May 27.
However, having indicated yesterday a single-goal victory and a clean sheet would represent a perfect result, Ferguson got exactly what he wanted and his side must be favourites to get through.
Having given so much, Tevez was not amused to be replaced by Berbatov midway through the second-half.
Not that a capacity crowd had much time to consider his reaction after a loud rendition of 'Argentina' that followed 'sign him up', a cry seemingly destined to go unheeded.
Attention was diverted by the thunderous 25-yard effort from Ronaldo that smacked into the crossbar as United strained every sinew in their search for a second.
In response, Cesc Fabregas was off target with a couple of half-chances, Emmanuel Adebayor's volley flew over and substitute Nicolas Bendtner might well have equalised with a header from the free-kick that caused the collision which forced Rio Ferdinand off with what seemed like a rib injury.
The sight of Ferdinand trying to get back on even though Jonny Evans had already replaced him, emphasised how much this means to United.
Arsenal will need to exceed that determination if they are to overhaul the deficit next week.
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