Cristiano Ronaldo came to Manchester United's rescue as the defending champions snatched all three points against Birmingham City in their Premiership match on Saturday.

United were run ragged for most of the first half as Birmingham looked the more dangerous side of the two. However luck and some good keeping by Edwin Van der Sar kept United in the hunt and Ronaldo willingly obliged with a 51st minute goal to grab an undeserved win for United.

The Blues were on the attack right from the start as Steve Bruce looked to prove his detractors wrong by playing an attacking style of football after being criticized for the ultra defensive mindset employed against Liverpool.

And the move immediately paid dividends as Cameron Jerome and Franck Queudrue forced Van der Sar to make great saves in the opening minutes of the match. United's first chance of the match fell to Wayne Rooney when he latched on to Van der Sar's long clearance and tried to chip Maik Taylor but with little success.

Birmingham almost took the lead on 17th minute when Gary McSheffrey headed Larsson's cross towards the target only to see Rio Ferdinand clear off the line. Van der Sar was withdraw after injuring his toe and was replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak at half time.

Six minutes into the second half, United finally managed to break the Birmingham defense thanks to incredible anticipation shown by Ronaldo as he raced forward to snatch the ball from Queudrue's feet, after the defender was into his stride to clear the ball, before slotting the ball past Taylor and into the net.

Birmingham tried to chalk up a response as Kuszczak saved a series of shots by McSheffrey including a deflected attempt that almost wrong footed the keeper. Ronaldo had one last chance to put the result beyond doubt but saw his shot fly just wide of the post as Manchester United held on to their lead to win a 5th consecutive match in the league.