Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a first-half goal on Wednesday to lift Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over West Ham in the English Premier League, moving the Red Devils nine points behind league-leading Chelsea.
Van Nistelrooy, benched for five games, started as manager Alex Ferguson’s captain and scored in injury time. It was Man United’s seventh straight league victory and moved the team five points ahead of Liverpool in third place.
Van Nistelrooy, after barely touching the ball in the first half, scored when winger Park Ji-sung found him in the area.
Man United dominated the game at Old Trafford and could have scored more, hitting the goal post once and the crossbar another time.
Chelsea lead the league with 78 points, followed by Man United with 69. Liverpool are next with 64 points, followed by Tottenham with 55, Blackburn with 52 and Arsenal with 50. — Sapa-AP