Ryan Giggs had done more than most to establish Manchester United’s 2-0 lead at Old Trafford on Saturday and it was he who helped more than most to retain it. At 35, going on a worrying 36 next month, there is little time to squander.

As United threatened to buckle under the late Bolton Wanderers barrage, it was Giggs who broke up play, Giggs who launched the pressure-releasing counter-attacks and Giggs who took the ball into the corner to run down the clock.

Most un-United, most unlike champions, depressing almost, as United reclaimed first place in the Barclays Premier League thanks to Chelsea’s earlier capitulation away to Aston Villa.

Yet as Liverpool were bounced farther into oblivion by a rogue beach ball, it was exactly what United needed. Ride the storm, let others fail elsewhere, take the three points. Only Arsenal, against Birmingham City, kept up the “big four” pace.

“It was a nervous occasion,” Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, admitted. “There was panic at times but we got through it. Just. Some of our football today was very good. You always like to have good starts. We could have got two or three goals.

“We should have finished the game off but didn’t. Sometimes you find yourself regretting these things. But particularly with the other results around us at the top, it’s been a good day for us.”

A good day for Giggs. His influence should be on the wane yet he seems to grow with the passing years — and not only in the designer stubble stakes. He makes George Michael look positively baby-faced. Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, could merely stand back, look on and admire.

“Ryan was the last person we wanted on the pitch in the last few minutes because he’s got all that quality and intelligence,” Megson said. “They had the opportunity to try to score and make it 3-1 but he took it into the corner and kept it there. It took our momentum away.”

Just as well. Without the injured Nemanja Vidic at the back and with Rio Ferdinand’s inconsistent form persisting, not least because of the constant roughing up from Kevin Davies, Bolton’s battle-axe of a captain, it needed a release valve somewhere. Giggs, all left foot and deft leverage, provided it.

“I know Ryan from playing for Wales,” Sam Ricketts, the Bolton right back, said. “He’s one of the best players ever to play for United. He defies logic. Everyone writes him off and he comes back better than what he was before. There aren’t many better than him.”

Ferdinand will be back to his best, once the temporary injury niggles and psychological demons have left him. “He’s some character, some player, but you do sometimes go through a bad patch,” Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, said. “I’m sure it doesn’t affect him. We just have to make sure we get the understanding back from last year.”

Van der Sar, on his first appearance of the season, exuded confidence. Up front, United were fine, too. Early on. Yet the lack of Michael Owen’s cutting edge was magnified by the absence of a “here, there and everywhere” Wayne Rooney, who was injured on England duty.

The Owen of old would have headed in Patrice Evra’s cross. Or at least tested Jussi Jaaskelainen. Instead, he misdirected it and Zat Knight deflected it into the net via his left thigh.

Chances of an Owen England swansong in South Africa recede by the match.

Antonio Valencia rubber-stamped United’s first-half superiority, exchanging passes with Gary Neville — at 34, another revelling in borrowed time — to drill in his first goal for the club.

And all the while, Mark Clattenburg, the referee, kept up with play and probably correctly disallowed Ivan Klasnic’s potential equaliser, for handball by Ricardo Gardner. A “Fit or what?” debate on Clattenburg never materialised.

Instead, Ferguson took a wider view. Winning ugly, when others are losing ugly, maybe satisfies him like nothing else. It is a perverse pleasure, a cause for discreet celebration at the misfortune of United’s supposed equals.

“This is a terribly strong league, a tough league,” Ferguson said. “Every season, there are results that surprise you. We got a surprise result at Burnley [when United lost 1-0] earlier this season. Then the home draw [2-2] against Sunderland. All the teams around the top must accept that this is a hard league.”

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): E van der Sar 6 — G Neville 6, R Ferdinand 4, J Evans 5, P Evra 6 (sub: J O’Shea, 83min) — Anderson 4 (sub: P Scholes, 86), M Carrick 4 — L A Valencia 7, D Berbatov 6, R Giggs 9 — M Owen 4 (sub: D Welbeck, 83). Substitutes not used: W Brown, Nani, F Macheda, T Kuszczak. Next: Liverpool (a).

Bolton Wanderers (4-1-4-1): J Jaaskelainen 8 — S Ricketts 6, G Cahill 6, Z Knight 5, J Samuel 4 — F Muamba 4 (sub: C Basham, 76) — Lee Chung Yong 5 (sub: I Klasnic, 53 6), R Gardner 5, T Cohen 5 (sub: M Davies, 64 6), M Taylor 7 — K Davies 7. Substitutes not used: P Robinson, G Steinsson, G McCann, A Al Habsi. Booked: Davies. Next: Everton (h).

Referee: M Clattenburg Attendance: 75,103