West Ham 0-1 Manchester United: Ryan Giggs shows he's still the man after 17 seasons in the Prem

With a swing of that trusty right foot, Ryan Giggs maintained his record of scoring in all 17 seasons since the Premier League's advent.

And as Manchester United spirited three points away from their traditional East end graveyard, Giggs proved beyond dispute he is not just a sentimental pick.

United ayatollah Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't do nostalgia by teamsheets. And on yesterday's evidence, Giggs - 35 going on 21- isn't ready for superannuation just yet.

Giggs might score with his right peg about as often as London is blanketed in snow, but his 62nd-minute goal was enough to deliver United's eighth consecutive win, six of them by 1-0 margins.

Forget squeaky bum time, the phrase Ferguson coined to describe nip-and-tuck finishes on the final straight: United are sitting pretty, two points clear of Liverpool with a game in hand, and they don't look like blowing it.

Fergie had always viewed trips to Upton Park with the same trepidation as Dracula going to the dentist: you know the drill, but it's always uncomfortable.

When Kenny Brown's bolt from the blue denied United the title 17 years ago, he called the already-relegated Hammers' effort "obscene."

And when a combination of Ludek Miklosko's saves, and Andy Cole finishing as if his bootlaces were tied together, let Blackburn through the catflap three years later, Fergie boycotted jellied eels and rhyming slang in protest.

Giggs was a boy wonder in the days when United stumbled into those cockney booby-traps, but he is now the old stager at Old Trafford with 10 championship medals to his name - and engravers can start work on the 11th.

Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola, who played until he was 37, can envisage Giggs carrying on even longer, saying: "It would have been better for me if he had stayed in Manchester.

"But when you have such a talent, it is all down to desire - if you have the hunger to keep challenging yourself all the time, you can play for many years. When I was at his age, I just didn't want to give up. That's why I kept playing for so long."

It has never ceased to amaze the pearly king tendency that West Ham can raise their game so regularly against the best team in the country but sink to the occasion so effortlessly when lesser lights are in town.

Under Zola's tutelage, however, it promises to be a different story.

Mixing high marks for artistic impression and backbone in equal measure, Zola has taken just five months, on his maiden voyage in management, to make wishful thinkers at Stamford Bridge yearn for his repatriation at Chelsea.

In the claret and blue pantheon of cult hero centre forwards, Carlton Cole's name may not yet be as revered as Hurst and Di Canio, or McAvennie and Cottee.

But England's latest contender for the No.9 shirt, called up by Fabio Capello on Saturday night, could not be faulted for his industry, even if his finishing ultimately lacked finesse.

Under the watching Capello's gaze, Cole came closest to ending Edwin Van Der Sar's record lockout after just 12 minutes, but the flying Dutchman scooped the danger out of thin air one-handed.

And as Jack Collison, the latest young thruster to graduate from the academy of football, enjoyed a showcase for his expansive talents, Edwin Star was extended again by Hammers skipper Lucas Neill's speculative curler.

For all Cole's energy and Collison's promise, however, Van Der Sar's box has become an unprecedented no-go-zone and West Ham's enterprise petered out around the final third.

United always carried the more incisive threat, even if they had to wait for more than an hour to prove that a Red Devil's trident is a more lethal weapon than a Hammer.

From a half-cleared corner, Paul Scholes sprayed a pass out to the left touchline like a farmer's muckspreader, and Giggs took it deliciously in his stride.

Cutting inside Cole's lunge and selling Scott Parker a dummy straight from the shelves of Mothercare, Giggs drilled a low shot through a crowded area beyond Robert Green's left hand.

United held on comfortably enough, despite their combustible knight of the realm almost blowing a gasket when referee Phil Dowd declined Ronaldo's plaintive late penalty appeal.

For West Ham, consolation at end of their eight-match unbeaten run may yet present itself in the FA Cup against Middlesbrough next Saturday.

But for United, still in the hunt for a mind-blowing Quadruple - Premier League, Carling Cup, FA Cup, Champions League - the bubble shows little sign of bursting.

WEST HAM : Green 6, Neill 7, Upson 7, Collins 7, Ilunga 7, Parker 6, Noble 6 (Savio, 76), Collison 7, Behrami 7 (Tristan, 87), Di Michele 6, Cole 6.

MAN UNITED : Van Der Sar 7, Rafael 7, Ferdinand 7, Vidic 7, O'Shea 6, Carrick 7, Scholes 6, Giggs 8, Ronaldo 6, Berbatov 7, Tevez 6 (Park, 87).

REFEREE : Phil Dowd

MAN OF THE MATCH : Ryan Giggs - where would United be without that trusty right foot?

VILLAIN OF THE MATCH : Ronaldo - too much sulking, and his boots were a putrid shade of green.

ANORAK : Giggs' winner was the first goal conceded by West Ham keeper Robert Green in 400 minutes.

Get your hands on this week's estimated jackpot of £100,000 by playing the New Football Pools .

Find out what our resident Premier League fan bloggers think - and let them know your views.

Follow every Premier League game live with our brilliant Match Tracker .