Bolton needed the maximum points to give themselves a chance of moving out of the bottom three and United needed to keep up the momemtum ahead of Arsenal in the title race.

With the Wanderers having been winless in the league since the end of August it was hard to see them overcoming a Reds team in good form on all fronts but for those present at the Reebok today it was hard to see which team was struggling and which team was in the top four.

Over the ninety minutes Bolton deserved their win, they had the better of the first half, defended strongly in the second, and played for each other and that is an aspect which will please Gary Megson ahead of an important group of fixtures.

Not since December 1978 when at the old Burnden Park ground have Bolton managed to overcome a United team on home soil and it is now five years since the Trotters last success at Old Trafford so a win was always overdue.

Returning to the hosts team where key duo Nicolas Anelka and El-Hadji Diouf but it would be unfair to pick out individual performances from a game where every player in white earned their stripes.

United did have Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes out of action but even so, Sir Alex Ferguson would be disappointed at the response of his players.

Bolton held possession well and matched the work rate of United in the opening moments and young midfielder Danny Guthrie was busy in the midfield against the club whom he played for as a schoolboy.

Guthrie had the first effort of the game in the eighth minute but despite putting power behind his shot the rejigged United back line managed to deny the Wanderers loan ace.

Three minutes later the Reebok crowd, excepting the few thousand who had made the short journey from Manchester, where on their feet when Anelka fired home the only goal of the game.

Ivan Campo chipped a free kick into the area, United defender Gerard Pique missed the clearing header completely leaving Anelka the chance to take the ball down and fire past Van Der Sar.

One or two United players stopped because they felt Anelka was in an offside position but there was no doubt that the Frenchman, a former United target himself, was in line.

In the first half United offered little in the way of an attacking threat and the fact that Louis Saha fired aimlessly at Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal meant that it would take something special for the visitors to break down the Wanderers resistance.

That said, a deflected Carlos Tevez shot off Andy O'Brien could have so easily ended up goalbound but Jaaskelainen was able to collect the loose ball with considerable ease.

Guthrie again and defender Nicky Hunt both saw their efforts deflect for a corner as Bolton put the pressure on before half time, whilst England midfielder Owen Hargreaves screwed his shot hopelessly wide with a few minutes of the half to go.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson furiously remonstrated with referee Mark Clattenburg as the two entered the away tunnell and this earned the veteran Scot a place in the stands throughout the second half.

The start of the second half saw the otherwise reserved Mancunians come at Bolton more but the Trotters still stuck to their gameplan and where unlucky not to have added to their lead through Anelka.

Anderson came off the bench for United in place of centre half Pique as they looked for an alternative spark but the youngster was unable to make his mark on the game.

On 65 minutes goalkeeper Jaaskelainen produced a stunning save to tip over a free kick from ex-Bayern Munich favourite Hargreaves as United continued to press.

Right winger Nani then went close with a half chance that was cleared by Ivan Campo and with just over a quarter of an hour to play Tevez somehow screwed the ball wide from a yard out following a cross which zipped across the face of goal from the left.

Bolton continued to stand firm and not even another Hargreaves free kick and four minutes of added on time could rescue United from slipping to only their second Premiership defeat of the campaign.

The Wanderers will have a few days to prepare prior to Thursday's UEFA Cup home clash against Greek side Aris Thessanoliki and this will be followed by a difficult trip to Anfield to face Liverpool a week tommorow.

For now though the Trotters savour only their second league win of the campaign, their first in the Megson era and the first home success against their arch rivals in nearly 30 years of waiting.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Andy O'Brien, Abdoulaye Meite, Ricardo Gardner, Kevin Nolan (Gavin McCann), Ivan Campo, Danny Guthrie (Christian Wilhelmsson), Kevin Davies (Gary Speed), Nicolas Anelka, El-Hadji Diouf

SUBS NOT USED: Lubomir Michalik, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

MANCHESTER UNITED: Edwin Van Der Sar, Wes Brown (John O'Shea), Rio Ferdinand, Gerard Pique (Anderson), Patrice Evra, Nani, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez, Louis Saha

SUBS NOT USED: Darren Fletcher, Chris Eagles, Tomasz Kuszczak (GK)

ATTENDANCE:

25,028

REFEREE:

Mark Clattenburg

BOOKED:

Davies (Bolton)

Nolan (Bolton)

Hunt (Bolton)

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