Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that the club had to "persevere" to secure all three points against Blackburn Rovers on Monday.
United triumphed with late goals from Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young, and Ferguson was delighted with the win.
"It was a long night wasn't it? We just had to persevere and persevere and we got our rewards for it," Ferguson told Sky Sports News.
"We weren't really making any clear cut chances - Wayne Rooney had a good free-kick that was saved by the goalkeeper and there were a lot of great crosses by Antonio that weren't finished off.
"We always had them under the cosh, we just had to be careful of the counter attack because they were dangerous at that point."
United have moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
