MANCHESTER UNITED chalked up their eighth straight victory in the Premiership thanks to a late winner from captain Roy Keane.

The inspirational Irishman fired a low shot past Brad Friedel with nine minutes left after the ball broke loose in the visitors' penalty area.

But Rovers can take plenty of positives from their performance on the day after mounting a courageous second half fightback of their own.

Record breaker Ruud Van Nistelrooy had fired the champions into a 1-0 interval lead after tucking away a 45th minute penalty to become the first man ever to score in eight successive Premiership games.

But Rovers came out fighting after the break and immediately got themselves back on level terms when Craig Hignett slotted a neat finish past Fabien Barthez following a neat exchange between Andy Cole and Matt Jansen on the edge of the box.

Damien Duff then missed a golden opportunity to put Rovers in front but failed to beat Barthez after being sent clear by Tugay.

And there were further chances for Hignett and Cole as the visitors went for the jugular.

However, United moved up a gear in the final 20 minutes as Van Nistelrooy rapped the crossbar with a thunderous overhead kick.

And their late pressure paid off when Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs combined in the area to create a shooting chance for Keane which he gleefully tucked away.

FA BARCLAYCARD PREMIERSHIP: MANCHESTER UNITED 2 BLACKBURN ROVERS 1, Old Trafford, Saturday January 19, 2002