The evergreen Welshman reacted fastest when Paul Robinson failed to hold Cristiano Ronaldo’s brutal free-kick and his header ultimately proved the difference between the two sides, allowing United to return to the top of the table, leapfrogging Everton and Portsmouth, who had both taken their place earlier in the day.

Although it was hardly a clinical success, it was the kind of hard-fought three points on which title wins can be gained.

But Tottenham will head home feeling distinctly hard done by.

Martin Jol’s men dominated for long periods, with Jermaine Jenas particularly influential and outshining £18.6million United new boy Michael Carrick, who disappointed against his former club.

It was Spurs’ misfortune to run into a couple of brick walls in Wes Brown and Edwin van der Sar, who made a series of excellent saves to keep them at bay.

Crowned Barclays Premiership player of the month for the first time before kick-off, Giggs is arguably producing the most consistent performances of his entire career.

The 33-year-old is showing little signs of age and his adaptability is proving to be a major plus for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Already deployed in central midfield and on the left wing by Ferguson this season, Giggs found himself pushed up front alongside Louis Saha against a Spurs side whose barren run at the Theatre of Dreams stretches back to 1989.

Giggs was by some distance United’s most dangerous attacking threat, although he would have to agree his second goal in successive matches owed much to Ronaldo’s venomous free-kick.

When Edgar Davids flattened Saha 40 yards out to bring a promising United break to a shuddering halt, it appeared to be a good free-kick to concede.

The theory reckoned without Ronaldo’s ability to launch thunderbolt long-range shots which dip and swerve in alarming fashion.

Often, these shots fly over the bar. Unfortunately for Robinson, this one did not.

He may be England’s number one but Robinson had no answer other than to parry the ball straight at Giggs, who stooped to make a firm connection with a header which bounced in off the underside of the bar.

At that point, with Giggs flying, Ronaldo looking dangerous and Carrick desperate to impress, it seemed only a matter of time before the Red Devils swamped their opponents.

Instead, from the point Giggs briefly departed for treatment to a nose left bloodied by an accidental forearm from Didier Zokora, Tottenham slowly began to gain control.

While the home area was hardly under siege, there was enough action going on around it to worry Ferguson and United were indebted to the agility of Van der Sar either side of the break.

The one player in United’s side older even than Giggs, the giant Dutchman made a superb double point-blank save to defy Michael Dawson and Ledley King, who was making a long-awaited return to action following a knee injury.

If that was not enough, as Tottenham continued to hold the initiative after half-time, Van der Sar backpedalled impressively to claw over when the looping rebound from a full-bloodied duel between Ronaldo and Pascal Chimbonda threatened to catch him out.

The introduction of Jermain Defoe for a clearly unhappy Robbie Keane offered the visitors another attacking dimension and it took the last of a trio of excellent blocks from Brown to deny the England man an equaliser.

Unlike central defensive partner Rio Ferdinand, Brown was impressive throughout, although even he could have done little if Mido had got anything more than the faintest touch to Reto Ziegler’s cross 12 minutes from time.

As it was, the Egyptian, making his second debut for the club he served with such distinction on loan last term, could not alter the flight of the ball and Van der Sar made a low save.

The home majority in another record 75,433-strong crowd would have had their nerves settled if Saha had not wasted two glorious chances near the end, particularly the second, when he latched onto Giggs’ long ball, shrugged off Benoit Assou-Ekotto but then stumbled, allowing Robinson to make the save.

In the end, it mattered little, although Ferguson will know his side must do better if they are to maintain winning form over the rest of a mouth-watering week which sees Celtic visit on Wednesday before struggling Arsenal head north looking for their first victory in eight days’ time.