Poor refereeing decisions once again came in the spotlight after Manchester United rode their luck to claim all three points against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The defending champions were frustrated for more than an hour by a stubborn Bolton defense but the visitors were dealt with an unexpected blow in the 60th minute when referee Rob Styles awarded United a penalty though Jlloyd Samuel cleanly tackled Cristiano Ronaldo in the penalty area. The Portuguese winger converted from the spot and as Bolton tried to go forward in search on an equalizer, Wayne Rooney added the second 13 minutes from full time to claim all three points from the tie.

United manager Alex Ferguson persisted with Dimitar Berbatov up front with Carlos Tevez partnering the Bulgarian while Rooney was dropped to the bench. After a shaky start to the game, United slowly assumed control of the possession with Bolton content to stay in their half and defend.

Berbatov came close to breaking his duck for United but only managed to head Darren Fletcher's cross straight into the arms of Jussi Jaaskelainen who followed it up with a brilliant save to deny Ronaldo from a free kick. Anderson went close to putting United in the lead but his shot was tipped over the bar by Jaaskelainen who was at the top of his form.

Bolton completely withdrew into their half in the second half, leaving Johan Elmander completely isolated up front. The hosts had a stroke of luck on the hour mark when Ronaldo cut inside the penalty area and was tackle by Samuels. Though none of the United players appealed for the penalty, Styles blew his whistle for a foul even though replays showed that the Bolton defender had clearly won the ball.

Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot to score his second goal in as many matches. Ferguson made two changes soon after the goal, bringing on Rooney and Paul Scholes and the substitutions looked to have worked as United looked more dangerous in the attack.

The hosts doubled the lead in the 77th minute when Rooney found Ronaldo with a through ball and followed the winger inside the Bolton penalty area. Ronaldo back heeled the ball to Rooney who placed the ball past the outstretched hands of Jaaskelainen to wrap up all three points for United.