By Sam Lyon

Cristiano Ronaldo, right, celebrates his excellent opener at Old Trafford

Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty two minutes from time earned Manchester United a narrow win that saw them close the gap on league leaders Arsenal to a point.

It was a cruel finish for Everton, who had battled well before Steven Pienaar felled Ryan Giggs late on, allowing Ronaldo to convert from the spot.

The Portuguese had earlier fired the hosts into the lead with a 20-yarder.

Tim Cahill levelled with a firm header and the Toffees looked to have earned a hard-fought point until Ronaldo's goal.

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The result ended the Toffees' 13-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

And it could prove a vital three points for United, who move a single point behind Arsenal again after the Gunners' derby win over Tottenham on Saturday.

The opening of the match, between two of the form sides in the Premier League, was predictably fraught, with four bookings in the opening 15 minutes and a host of fouls interrupting the flow of the game.

606: DEBATE You can thank Ronaldo for the goals and SAF for ringing the changes spiritof1983

However, it was United who settled first, despite the absence of key trio Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves through injury.

Carlos Tevez had the game's first real chance when Wayne Rooney helped on a Ronaldo cross only for the Argentine's shot to be deflected wide.

With 22 minutes on the clock, though, the match was crying out for a piece of individual brilliance - and Ronaldo duly obliged.

The winger collected Tevez's cross-field pass first time, stepped inside Lee Carsley and drilled into the top corner left-footed, with keeper Tim Howard motionless.

But instead of sparking an expected United onslaught, it was Everton that struck next just five minutes later, Cahill rising brilliantly to head home Pienaar's deep cross.

Suddenly the match was full of quality and endeavour, and Rooney came agonisingly close to restoring the hosts' lead when his excellent improvised lob cleared Howard, only for Joleon Lescott to head off the line.

Cahill's header was his seventh goal in all competitions this season

And the move of the match came just before half-time, with Giggs and Ronaldo exchanging passes on the edge of the box before the latter latched onto Giggs' clipped cross, firing a flamboyant scissors kick narrowly over the bar.

Everton were not without their own moments in the opposition half, not least when a Lescott break down the left had home keeper Tomasz Kuszczak sprawling, but it was largely a defensive effort again at the start of the second half.

Minutes after Howard was forced to parry an Anderson drive, Rooney fed Tevez in the box and his deflected shot again brought the best out of the American keeper.

But the visitors, who had not conceded a goal for five and a half hours of football before Ronaldo's first-half strike, refused to buckle.

United became increasingly frustrated in their approach play, prompting Sir Alex Ferguson to replace Michael Carrick with Louis Saha.

It had little impact, a firm Rooney drive that dipped onto the roof of the net one of very few decent efforts on goal.

However, with the match approaching the closing stages, Pienaar inexplicably swung his back leg around to fell Giggs as the Welsh winger drove into the box.

Referee Howard Webb awarded the spot-kick and Ronaldo made no mistake to keep United well in the title hunt.