Lucky 13 as Utd go back top

Piece of Giggs magic sees off spirited Hammers

Last updated: 9th February 2009

Lucky 13 as Utd go back top

Giggs: United mob match-winner

Man of the match: Ryan Giggs - a masterful performance and brilliant goal by the veteran
Moment of the match: Giggs' superb winner
Attempt of the match: In a game of not many chances on goal, it has to be Giggs' goal.
Save of the match: Edwin van der Sar's save from Carlton Cole's chip
Talking point: Van der Sar breaking the British League record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal

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Manchester United kept a 13th straight clean sheet in the Premier League as a stunning solo goal from Ryan Giggs earned a 1-0 win at West Ham United.

The evergreen Giggs grabbed the only goal of a tight game at Upton Park just past the hour mark as fellow veteran Edwin van der Sar set a new record in goal.

West Ham matched the title favourites for long periods, with England new boy Carlton Cole having his team's best chance in the first half as his attempted chip was plucked out of the air by Van der Sar after he had been sent clear.

At the opposite end, Robert Green produced a smart reaction save after Cristiano Ronaldo had turned Paul Scholes' wayward shot back towards goal.

In the 34th minute, Van der Sar set a British league record for the longest run without conceding a goal and he was never seriously tested by the Hammers thereafter.

The reigning champions were not at their best, and struggled to create chances until a moment of magic from skipper Giggs settled the contest.

Scholes swept a fine ball out to the left flank on 62 minutes and Giggs cut inside, jinking past two defenders before curling a right-footed shot beyond Green.

Late Hammers pressure failed to yield an equaliser as the Red Devils returned to the top of the table after being temporarily displaced by Liverpool on Saturday.

Bobby Moore day

The hosts reserved their usual white-hot atmosphere for a Red Devils visit on 'Bobby Moore day', in recognition of a man who will shortly have to share top billing with David Beckham on 108 caps for England.

That appreciation continued once the match started too, as Matthew Upson slid in on Giggs to execute a perfect tackle of which Moore himself would have been proud.

By that point, Giggs had already sliced a volley wide in an encouraging start for the champions that also involved a couple of trademark piledrivers from Scholes, one of which Ronaldo turned goalwards, forcing Green to make an impressive save.

A brilliant passage of close control involving Giggs, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov ended with the Bulgarian lashing a volley goalwards that James Collins found himself accidentally in the way of.

Another move of similar quality brought a Nemanja Vidic shot into the body of the same man as pretty passing failed to result in clear-cut chances.

Instead, with Upson outstanding and Scott Parker snapping into a series of tackles in midfield, the Hammers slowly got themselves a foothold in the contest.

If ever there was a man needing to impress watching England coach Fabio Capello, it was Cole.

Unfortunately, Cole turned like a giant barge as he collected Jack Collison's short pass with his back to goal.

What seemed like a clear shooting chance quickly disappeared as Vidic and Ferdinand converged on the former Chelsea man, who seems set to win his first cap in Seville on Wednesday.

Cole had earlier managed to gain half a yard on Ferdinand to reach David Di Michele's through ball but he is not the first striker in recent times to find Van der Sar too big a wall to knock over.

When the 34th minute ticked by, Van der Sar eclipsed the record of old Aberdeen stalwart Bobby Clark, who went 1,155 minutes of league action without conceding a goal during the 1970-71 campaign to claim that British record.

The veteran Dutchman's goal was still intact when Di Michele was crowded out on the edge of the visitors' penalty area and the loose ball fell to a marauding Lucas Neill, whose curling shot probably did not stretch Van der Sar enough.

Agitated

It was a similar story for the Red Devils, with Ronaldo in particular getting increasingly agitated with his team-mates, John O'Shea receiving one mouthful and even Sir Alex Ferguson getting a passionate response as the Scot made a point to Ronaldo on the touchline.

Yet if the bad temper was taken as a sign the champions' focus was not fully wired in, West Ham got it horribly wrong.

After Giggs had his corner half-cleared, Scholes swiftly spread the ball back to his long-time colleague.

Cole flew in to make a tackle by the touchline. He failed, as did his Hammers team-mates, who expected Giggs to eventually transfer the ball to his generally lethal left foot. Instead Giggs struck it with his right, beyond a startled Green, and into the net.

Ronaldo, his mind back on the job, watched his thunderbolt effort curl just wide after taking a deflection before Neill's next, wayward, shot.

West Ham UnitedTeam StatisticsManchester United
0Goals1
01st Half Goals0
3Shots on Target3
5Shots off Target9
6Blocked Shots8
5Corners11
16Fouls10
2Offsides1
1Yellow Cards1
0Red Cards0
83.2Passing Success87.7
25Tackles28
76Tackles Success82.1
46Possession54
55.3Territorial Advantage44.7

Comments (2)

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Darren Mitchell (West Ham United fan) says...

excellent effort from our boys the mighty hammers, it was an very even contest between both teams today , but for a magic piece of fancy footwork from ryan giggs, that ended being the match winner, for man utd, still i'm proud to be a west ham fan, and even hough we lost we showed great character and sprit through the game, and that is all the hammers fans ask for...maxiuim effort every game, win lose or draw...well done west ham for letting man utd know they were in a game and with the right attitude we will be strutting our stuff in europe this time next season.....darren mitchell

Posted 18:51 8th February 2009

Christopher Walkey (Manchester United fan) says...

A game that had very little serious action can be worth every minute of viewing when you see class like that from Giggs. Manchester United back on top of the Premiership where no doubt they will stay as LIverpool and Aston Villa's effort will fade. Chelsea and Arsenal are well and truely out of contention.

Posted 18:44 8th February 2009
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