Man Utd 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.
Piece of Giggs magic sees off spirited Hammers
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 United |
Team Statistics |
Manchester United |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
9 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
8 |
| 5 |
Corners |
11 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 83.2 |
Passing Success |
87.7 |
| 25 |
Tackles |
28 |
| 76 |
Tackles Success |
82.1 |
| 46 |
Possession |
54 |
| 55.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.7 |
|
