Soccer West Ham United 1 Manchester United 2: There was one minute of passionate applause for George Best but the 90 that followed were an even more perfectly articulated commemoration of the best loved of all Manchester United's footballers.

While some might call it an old-fashioned, 1960s sort of game, this was actually the type of vibrant contest that football must always keep in its repertoire.

United manager Alex Ferguson cherished the heartfelt nature of the afternoon. "I thought it was a fantastic reception," he said. "Thanks to the West Ham fans. That was truly remarkable. The lucky thing we had was coming to a great club that loves and appreciates great players."

The other value of the match was entirely without sentiment yet bulging with importance to the visitors. The slick and forceful football produced at The Valley last weekend was again unleashed. That, by itself, does not prove United are resurgent on all fronts and, when victory is essential in Lisbon next month, Benfica will not pamper them with possession as West Ham did here.

Nonetheless, it is possible to believe United will hold their form together in the Premiership. There were overtones of Ferguson's buccaneering heyday in the unquenchable attacking with which they flayed West Ham after conceding the opener in the first minute. The reservations about United's midfield will surface again but there was more than enough vitality in this contest. Park Ji-sung vibrates with a willingness to contribute but here there was also a precision in the final pass that gave United their edge.

All the same the South Korean is as incapable of surpassing Wayne Rooney as almost every other player on the planet. He was the motor of victory again. It is still hard to decide which of his many facets to gape at with the most awe. Alan Pardew, the West Ham manager, reflected "perhaps he ought to have been wearing the number seven shirt", such was his performance.

Rooney overwhelms a match, with a nature that is as startling as his skills. Having caused the panic, in the 69th minute, that led to Ruud van Nistelrooy chipping against the crossbar, the 20-year-old was back moments later to concede a corner and then, with the few gasps of breath that were left, to dispute the decision with the linesman.

The irrepressibility comes at a price and unthinking competitiveness led him to hack Danny Gabbidon from behind in one of the few episodes when he was deprived of the ball. Ferguson would hesitate to curb a furious impulsiveness that contributes so much. Without his exuberant poise United might not have got the equaliser they deserved.

West Ham, after 47 minutes, were in a state of agitation as Tomas Repka's clearance was blocked and Park then slid a pass through to Rooney. He had too much technique to be thwarted, skipping across Gabbidon to find the sliver of space from which he could shoot low into the net.

At that stage it felt as if only Rooney could beat the goalkeeper. United last saw Roy Carroll when he was wearing their colours and finding it impossible to get his fingers to any of the five penalties with which Arsenal won the shoot-out for the 2005 FA Cup. It appeared initially the Northern Irishman could not keep his hands off this match.

Carroll reached shots by van Nistelrooy, Paul Scholes and even Rooney. United were as dumbfounded by his agility as they had been by their own amateurishness when the game was 52 seconds old. They were suckered by a Teddy Sheringham header that put Matthew Etherington into unconscionable amounts of space on West Ham's left. The midfielder was sharp, rolling the early cross that Marlon Harewood deftly slipped past Edwin van der Sar at the near post.

Mikael Silvestre was put through the indignity of being substituted as early as the 37th minute. Ferguson had the means to rejig the back four, with Gary Neville, who last started a match in August, coming on to confirm his recovery from injury. John O'Shea moved across to the centre of defence and also slipped into a far higher quality of performance. He notched what proved to be United's winner, rising unmarked to head home a Rooney corner in the 56th minute while the advancing Carroll failed to challenge with conviction.

Rooney had earned that corner when one of his runs ended with a deflected shot and in the last moments he side-footed wide from a Neville cross. The game had been saturated in his talent and it would have taken far more than a single miss to save West Ham.  Guardian Service

Ferguson hints at three more years

Alex Ferguson has said he will remain in charge at Old Trafford next season and may have another three years at the helm.

Ferguson said: "I'll still be around next season. I'm confident the club will back me in the summer. I can still make long-term plans - absolutely."

The United manager added: "Right now I feel great, terrific. Obviously I'm not going to be here in 10 years, I don't think I'll be here in four years, but I'm making plans for next season all right."

Ferguson (64) would pass the 20-year landmark as United manager next November.

Despite his desire to stay on at Old Trafford, he concedes that there is plenty of restructuring to be done.

"The whole objective of the last couple of years has been about producing another team," said Ferguson. "We are looking at two areas - January and the summer.

"We will probably just add a couple of players to bulk up the numbers in January - the one we really want to sign will only be available in the summer.

"He's cup-tied in the Champions League and his club wouldn't sell him before then in any case."