Fergie formation causing trouble for West Ham

West Ham may have arrived as the bottom club in the Premiership but they were the last side to prevent a United victory, with a 1-1 draw at Upton Park on November 17 - since which time Ferguson's men had put together a six-match winning run.

Michael Carrick broke up some promising United moves in the early stages as West Ham struggled to cope with Ferguson’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

At the other end, there was a half-hearted shout for a penalty when Jermain Defoe tried to squeeze between two defenders in the first minute but referee Rob Styles was not impressed.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer attempted to take advantage of Christian Dailly’s slip with a snap-shot that was straight at David James.

James’ alertness prevented a goal when John O’Shea’s flicked header from Juan Sebastian Veron’s corner arrowed towards the near post, but the respite was only temporary as United poured forward again and Solskjaer scored in the 15th minute.

Gary Neville had plenty of time to deliver a tempting cross and though Solskjaer’s header was not top-notch the ball took enough of a deflection off defender Tomas Repka’s arm to deceive James.

Two minutes later and Veron made it 2-0. From a free-kick 30 yards out on the right, Beckham’s usual territory, the Argentinian bent a curling shot inside the far-post with James perhaps having expected the left-footed Ryan Giggs to have taken it instead.

Giggs was next to threaten but his first-time shot from Veron’s corner has blocked near the line.