SIR ALEX FERGUSON may be no fortune-teller, but he certainly could sense it coming.

Before the game, he predicted that soon, every one will see the best of Dimitar Berbatov.

Last night, just as Manchester United's title charge seemed to have taken a stumble, the Bulgarian swooped in to head home the winner in a 1-0 victory over Bolton.

It sure took a long, long time.

In the end, Manchester United so nearly failed to do what the rest of the Big Four gang did - beat Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.

For sure, none of them had to go through such a harrowing time as the Red Devils did.

Arsenal beat them 3-1, Liverpool overcame them 2-0, while Chelsea won 2-0.

Man Utd had to probe deep, and they finally got their reward right in the 90th minute.

The chance seemed to have vanished when Carlos Tevez delayed his pass to Berbatov, who was unmarked in the penalty box. But Tevez's subsequent cross was immaculate.

And Berbatov timed his run superbly to head the ball past the hapless Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

One couldn't help but recall what Fergie said earlier.

'I have a feeling we are about to see the best of Berbatov,' said the Man Utd manager.

Scrutiny

'When you pay a lot of money for a player he inevitably comes under close scrutiny. It happened to Juan Sebastian Veron and Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar has also suffered from the impatience of people when a guy makes a big move.

'At Tottenham, he orchestrated most of their play and if, at times, he has looked a bit isolated, it was because our players needed to adjust to him just as much as he has needed to learn our ways.'

In truth, Berbatov had only shown sporadic flashes of his brilliance with the Red Devils since moving from Tottenham Hotspur.

Yesterday's goal was only his fifth league goal for the Red Devils this season.

There is still a long way to go before he justifies his ?30.75 million ($67.4m) price tag, but it was a good start nevertheless.

If Fergie's prediction about Berbatov turns out to be true, then Man Utd would take some stopping.

For the defending champions were missing several key players through injuries last night, including Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.

At the same time, they seemed to have regained the knack of scoring late goals, a sign of their mental strength.

Even when things didn't go their way, they simply kept their heads and ground out the results.

Yesterday's win over Bolton was their sixth 1-0 win in their previous eight league matches.

With the victory, they moved to the top of the Premiership table, a point ahead of previous leaders Liverpool.

Could this be the moment that finally turns the tide Man Utd's way?

Soon, we may find out.

Liverpool's championship mettle will be severely tested when they host Everton tomorrow.