Nani keeps title race alive

Nani ensured the race for the Barclays Premier League title will go to the final day of the season as his goal secured a 1-0 victory for Manchester United at Sunderland.

The Portugal international's 28th-minute strike was enough to claim the win and reduce Chelsea's lead to a single point with one game each left to play.

However, United might have won comfortably had striker Dimitar Berbatov made the most of any of the three gilt-edged chances which fell his way.

On a bitterly cold afternoon on Wearside, United created chances from the off, and it took a good fourth-minute save by Craig Gordon from Wayne Rooney, and then Phil Bardsley's block from Ryan Giggs' follow-up, to keep them at bay.

Edwin van der Sar had to pull off a fine one-handed save to keep out Steed Malbranque's rasping 24th-minute shot, and the home fans started to believe that a surprise could be on the cards.

However, United got their noses in front four minutes later when, after Giggs and Berbatov had caused problems on the edge of the Sunderland penalty area, the ball was fed out to Nani and he blasted a low shot past the helpless Gordon and into the bottom corner.

Berbatov was wasteful in injury time when Rooney set him up, but with just Gordon to beat, he could not hit the target.

Nani was denied his second goal of the game four minutes after the restart when Gordon made a fine save as he burst into the penalty area, and then Berbatov spooned a shot over from point-blank range with the goal at his mercy.

It was simply not the striker's day, and he could not believe his luck when he met Giggs' 56th-minute cross with a firm header just yards out and saw Gordon deflect it over the crossbar.

Substitute Michael Carrick saw his 78th-minute effort hacked off the line by Michael Turner and although Sunderland pushed all the way to the whistle, they could not find a way back.