In a fascinating rather than exciting encounter, Manchester United scored the only goal in a tightly fought contest.

This was a game that had so much huff and puff in midfield - with little to show with regard to shots - that nil-nil looked written all over it. In fact, it was difficult to believe that the Hammers had lost it at the final whistle. It's not exactly that the home side were unlucky, more that they had nullified ManUre's attack to the point at which it looked as if both sides would be happy with the draw.

However, someone must have forgot to tell Ryan Giggs that, as it was the experienced midfielder who thrashed home after Mark Noble had lost posession and the ball had worked itself to Paul Scholes, whose long pass was picked up for Giggs to swerve and hit home with his 'wrong' foot. It was just past the hour mark and just the boost that United needed.

Even then, replays later showed that Lucas Neill had been slow in coming out from the intial clearance and, had he been more alert, Scholes' pass would have found Giggs offside. Proof that small things change matches and win championships.

West Ham harried ManU after the goal but the Red's recent run of clean sheets wasn't really in danger any more than it was before Giggs' strike as, with the excellent Behrami supporting Neil against Ronaldo and Berbatov playing deep, there was more a feeling of containment than attack. Not that the Hammers were inhibited or tried to lump the ball - some of their play was exceptional - it's just that United are too wise to allow the opposition to outpass them. Say what you like about Ronaldo, when you have to use one of your better attacking options to keep him quiet, then things are going to be played to the opposition's advantage.

Although I'm generally enthusiastic about the way things are going at Upton Park - this type of performance would bring us three points against most opposition - this was a game where the extra bit of class that Bellamy could have provided may have proved useful. As it was, Cole worked hard and well, but his turn's and knock down's saw little effort, with Di Michele too deep and fairly anonymous. It gave Van der Saar a fairly comfortable afternoon and enabled him to gain the British record for the most time without conceding a goal.

So, a disappointment for the home side but I guess many teams will suffer far worse than West Ham did and the Hammers can congratulate themselves on their insistence on trying to play United at their own game - even if it did suffer slightly as a spectacle.