Carlos Tevez swooped in stoppage time to cancel out Dimitar Berbatov's opener for Tottenham as Manchester United salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

But the late drama was still not enough to lift United back to the summit of the Premier League after Arsenal had earlier beaten Manchester City to go three points clear at the top of the table.

Berbatov's ninth league goal of the season had threatened to ensure that deficit remained in place come the end of the day, but Tevez - who turned home Nani's corner with virtually the last kick of the game - broke hearts across north London.

A week ago, despite having lost at Old Trafford in the FA Cup, Spurs had demonstrated then how far they have come under the leadership of Juande Ramos and they went into their second meeting in a week with United knowing an upset was a distinct possibility.

They did not disappoint and played just as well, if not better, than last Sunday and can consider themselves very unlucky not to have sent United packing with nothing.

Berbatov opened the scoring for Spurs on 21 minutes after Aaron Lennon had displayed all his blistering pace as he raced past Owen Hargreaves on the right hand side before crossing into the danger area. Edwin Van der Sar could only parry the ball into the path of the Bulgarian who had the easiest of chances to knock the ball into an empty net.

Despite United's scintillating form heading into the game, they looked a shadow of the side that has won their last six games as Ramos's tactics of harrying and hassling the visitors at every opportunity seemed to unsettle the champions.

United were not given any time on the ball and more often than not, their passes were misplaced and loose balls were picked up by white shirts as Spurs pressed their opponents into making mistakes.

Robbie Keane should have put Spurs two up - and sealed victory - in the 56th minute, but the Irishman could only manage a tame shot into Van der Sar's arms after Berbatov had done brilliantly to set up the chance.

As full-time approached and the visitors' frustration grew, tempers frayed and several United players began to lose control of their tempers, not least substitute Nani, who was lucky the card shown to him for a lunge on Pascal Chimbonda was yellow and not red. United finished the game with seven players booked.

Nevertheless, the champions began to press harder for an equaliser the longer the game went on and Anderson and Nani both had shots saved by Radek Cerny before Tevez was denied a clear scoring opportunity by a world-class Chimbonda tackle.

Spurs threatened to finish the job on the break as United committed more bodies forward, but ultimately it was the Argentinian's 93rd minute volley that grabbed all the headlines, perfectly demonstrating United's absolute refusal to accept defeat.

It may not have been a classic United performance, but that kind of never-say-die attitude is a sure sign of potential champions.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport