FA Premiership/Manchester United 1 West Ham United 0: There have been times over the past six weeks when Ruud van Nistelrooy must have wondered whether he would ever get the chance to join the illustrious band of seven Manchester United players to have scored 150 goals for the club.
Last night those doubts were condemned to the dustbin of history as Van Nistelrooy marked his return to the team with number 149 and the decisive moment of a game that reaffirmed his importance to the club.
Dropped from the League Cup final and subjected to all sorts of rumour about his future, Van Nistelrooy's best retort was to remind English football he remains one of the most accomplished marksman in the game. His second coming was duly sealed with a winning goal that makes it 10 successive victories for United at Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy was not only reinstated in place of Louis Saha but installed as captain in the absence of the injured Gary Neville. It was a ringing endorsement from Alex Ferguson, who might be the most unpredictable manager in the business but one certainty is that he does not give the captaincy to a player he is trying to usher out of Old Trafford.
Since Van Nistelrooy's previous match several questions have been posed about his contribution to the team and, specifically, whether his goalmouth loitering compares favourably to Saha's sleek running and industry. What no one could dispute, however, is that Van Nistelrooy's period out of the team has dulled his predatory instincts.
His 20th Premiership goal of the season stemmed from his very first chance. Park Ji-Sung did all the spadework, turning away from Paul Konchesky, and Van Nistelrooy's angled shot found the corner. He may have had an even more profitable evening had his restoration to the team not coincided with Ferguson experimenting with another four changes and, in doing so, disrupting a team that had produced their most exhilarating football of the season over the past few weeks.
West Ham are a robust proposition and there was no hint of stage-fright from a team that had won at Arsenal this season and lost only one of their previous seven fixtures away from Upton Park. Alan Pardew's team were quick into the tackle, positive on the break and created the better opportunities of the opening exchanges. The enduring sight of the opening half-hour, indeed, was Wayne Rooney launching a stream of invective towards Patrice Evra because of his positioning when defending a corner. Evra is struggling to justify his £5.5 million price tag and it was with this in mind Pardew had instructed his centre-forward Marlon Harewood to operate for long spells as an auxiliary right-winger.
Another ploy discussed by the visiting team was to get the ball to Matthew Etherington on the left wing so he could run at Gerard Pique, an 18-year-old Spaniard making his full debut in place of Neville. As it turned out, however, Pique acquitted himself admirably and even produced one of the better moments, the visiting goalkeeper Shaka Hislop having to be alert to tip over his shot from 30 yards.
By that stage referee Graham Poll had departed with a damaged hamstring, and early in the second half his replacement, Martin Atkinson, ruled out a Cristiano Ronaldo effort because Van Nistelrooy had run the ball out of play. Ronaldo and Rooney were becoming dangerous as United sought more goals. The difference between Ferguson and Jose Mourinho is that United want to entertain whereas Chelsea would have been satisfied with 1-0. It is a dangerous ploy on Ferguson's part and, though Rooney struck the crossbar, West Ham counter-attacked with numbers in the final stages.
MAN UTD: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra (Silvestre 78), Ronaldo (Saha 87), Fletcher (Giggs 69), Pique, Park, van Nistelrooy, Rooney. Subs Not Used: Howard, Rossi. Goals: van Nistelrooy 45.
WEST HAM: Hislop, Scaloni (Ferdinand 67), Collins, Gabbidon, Konchesky, Benayoun, Reo-Coker, Mullins, Etherington (Zamora 80), Ashton (Sheringham 80), Harewood. Subs Not Used: Walker, Fletcher.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
