Andre Villas-Boas savours historic Tottenham win

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas said it was a special night for his team as they recorded their first win at Manchester United for 23 years.

After taking a 2-0 lead through Jan Vertonghen and Gareth Bale, Tottenham had to hold firm as Nani and Shinji Kagawa scored either side of Clint Dempsey's first Spurs goal.

"We spoke about making history at half-time," said Villas-Boas.

"We knew we would be under pressure. The team excelled themselves."

The result was arguably Villas-Boas's best victory in English football, having been employed at White Hart Lane this summer following his sacking by Chelsea last season.

It also extends Tottenham's unbeaten run to seven games after losing against Newcastle on the opening day of the season.

Villas-Boas screamed with delight at the final whistle but was keen to point out that it was a win which came as a result of team effort.

"Winning at Old Trafford is very difficult," the Portuguese coach told BBC Sport. "But we can't make it an individual night for anybody, it was victory for the team.

"Our work-rate was immense, our spirit, we played extremely confidently in the first half. We really attacked, our goalkeeper didn't make a save and we enjoyed most of the possession. We deservingly went 2-0 ahead and in the second half showed the spirit that has been fooling us in the last couple of weeks.

"We moved up two positions [to fifth in the Premier League] to where we surely belong and this is a special feeling for everybody.

"The team put in the effort and the desire. It's a big night for the club but we have to continue with this kind of form."