Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits Bolton Wanderers rattled them late on in their 2-1 win.

United were 2-0 up at the break and seemingly cruising before Matt Taylor struck for the Trotters 15 minutes from time.

It was the prelude for a Bolton bombardment and they came close to snatching a point when Edwin van der Sar made a crucial save to keep out Gary Cahill's header.

United held on though to claim a victory that saw them leap above Chelsea, who lost at Aston Villa and Ferguson said: "It was more tense than we would have liked.

"We made it hard for ourselves and we were panicking at times. But we got through it, just."

The Red Devils got their noses in front after four minutes when Zat Knight got himself in a tangle as he tried to clear a misdirected Michael Owen header and only succeeded in turning the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Antonio Valencia then scored his first United goal since making his £17million summer move from Wigan.

"This is a tough league," he said.

Burnley and drawing at home to Sunderland."