Manchester United 2-1 Bolton match report: The Daily Mirror verdict

On the surface, Manchester United could not be in better shape as they fly to Russia for Wednesday's Champions League tie with CSKA Moscow.

Top of the Premier League and with maximum points from two games in Europe, United fans are entitled to ask why anyone ever doubted their ability to cope post-Cristiano Ronaldo.

But there has been an underlying fragility about United this season, particularly at Old Trafford, where they have lacked conviction and been forced to scramble results like this.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Sunderland and now Bolton have all pushed the champions to the limit, and on three of those occasions United needed an own goal to win or salvage a point.

The sight of Ryan Giggs shielding the ball near the corner flag in stoppage time to run the clock down shows just how fraught this victory was. That is not the United way.

At least Fergie, fresh from a two-week period of self-recrimination following his attack on ref Alan Wiley, was honest enough to acknowledge his players had got away with it.

"We made it harder than it should have been," said Fergie. "We had a lot of opportunities to win the game but didn't take them.

"When Bolton scored it was backs to the wall stuff and there was a bit of panic. But we got there in the end - just.

"It just shows this is a strong league, a tough league. Every season there are results that surprise you.

"We got a surprise result at Burnley earlier this season, then the home draw against Sunderland. All the teams around the top must accept it's a hard league."

Yet to focus on United's shortcomings would be unfair on Bolton, whose spirited display almost saw them snatch a point at Old Trafford, like Sunderland had a fortnight earlier.

And Bolton defender Zat Knight, who was the hapless victim of a fifth-minute own goal, claimed United no longer struck fear into the Premier League's so-called smaller clubs.

"The Premier League's a lot harder now and every club believes it can beat anyone, even the bigger teams," said .

"Chelsea lost to Villa, Liverpool lost at Sunderland and we've come to United and almost come away with something.

"It's not just about the big four now. Anyone can beat anyone on their day. Clubs like ourselves believe we can go to places like Old Trafford, believing we can get something.

"United obviously tried to rest some players because they have a big game on Wednesday, but we made it hard for them.

"When you go 2-0 up like they did, you can sometimes think the game's a bit easy and take your foot off the pedal.

"United did that and we almost capitalised on it. I really thought we were going to get the equaliser, but it wasn't to be."

Without the injured Wayne Rooney and, of course, their erstwhile star player Ronaldo, United had no-one to take the game by the scruff of the neck and win it by sheer force of will.

United went ahead when Michael Owen's poorly-directed header struck Knight and trundled over the line with the game five minutes old.

Impressive play between Gary Neville and Antonio Valencia saw the latter score his first United goal in the 32nd minute, beating Jussi Jaaskelainen at his near post.

After that Fergie admitted his players fell into a "comfort zone", from which they were jolted with 15 minutes left when Matt Taylor out-jumped Patrice Evra to score with a header.

Cue a frantic finish in which sub Ivan Klasnic and Gary Cahill could both have denied United victory at Old Trafford for the second game in succession, but spurned their chances.

As it was, United hung on to maitain their place at the summit of the table. The fact United are already there, while not playing at their best, is an ominous sign for their rivals.

But Fergie knows his players must raise their performance level if they are to remain on course for an historic fourth Premier League crown and record-breaking 19th title in all.

Man Utd: Van der Sar 6; Neville 7, Ferdinand 6, Evans 7, Evra 5 (O'Shea 83); Valencia 7, Carrick 6, Anderson 6 (Scholes 86), Giggs 7; Berbatov 7, Owen 6 (Welbeck 84)

Bolton: Jaaskelainen 7; Ricketts 6, Cahill 6, Knight 6, Samuel 6; Lee 5 (Klasnic 50, 6), Gardner 6, Muamba 7 (Basham 76, 6), Cohen 5 (M Davies 64, 6), Taylor 7; K Davies 7