Nostalgia may not be what it used to be, but with Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols reuniting, tank-tops in the high street and verbal abuse again all too common in the stands, the Sixties and Seventies are truly back in fashion.

For a time on Saturday, West Ham United captured the mood of rebellion to perfection, causing an upheaval in the contest for the title. A jaded Manchester United team left with hair-styles fanned into retro Mohawks after a blast from Sir Alex Ferguson, who turns 66 today. “He had a go at some players – me as well,” Louis Saha, the United forward, said.

West Ham embarked on many glorious runs to cup finals in those two decades and although this team may not match some of their distinguished predecessors for sparkle, they showed steely aggression aplenty in this come-back victory. A team who had forgotten how to win at home finally remembered their lines, as did their effervescent supporters, roused by Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty miss when United were already ahead. Alan Curbishley failed to register a single victory against United in 15 years in charge of Charlton Athletic; now the West Ham manager has three in a year.

West Ham had the extra incentive of trying to damage United’s title prospects for a fourth time in 15 years. Andrew Cole probably still has flash-backs to his missed chances at Upton Park in the closing fixture in 1994-95 as the title was presented to Blackburn Rovers. In April 1992, West Ham were already relegated but beat United to help Leeds United to win the title, and in March 1998 a draw against Ferguson’s side helped Arsenal to gain crucial momentum. Now, United enter the new year two points behind Arsenal.

Rarely have United been so tormented and looked so lifeless. West Ham’s five-man midfield was so effective that Ferguson was forced to reshape his formation midway through the first half. The rangy Carlton Cole gave Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, pillars of the meanest defence in the Premiership, more trouble than they could handle, while Carlos Tévez could deliver no hammer blows on his emotional homecoming after his exploits for West Ham last season.

An ineffectual Owen Hargreaves was easily smothered and, in goal, Tomasz Kuszczak inspired little confidence. Happily for them, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick, who missed the match through illness, should return against Birmingham City tomorrow.

For all that, United’s goal was breathtakingly good. Lucas Neill was attracted to Tévez and Ryan Giggs ran clear to deliver a precise cross for Ronaldo to head in – their only effort on target.

Ferguson wrote off the defeat as “just one of those days”. He added: “We don’t usually get as bad a performance as that. They [West Ham] were very aggressive but losing two goals from set-pieces tells you there’s something wrong.”

The introduction of John Pantsil, because of two more injuries suffered by West Ham players, injected pace and sparked a period of ascendancy that brought the goals. Anton Ferdinand, returning from a hamstring injury and a court case in which he was found not guilty of assault, climbed above Darren Fletcher and Wes Brown to head home a corner and Matthew Upson contorted his body to head in a free kick five minutes later.

“Everyone makes mistakes, but if you don’t learn from them you’re a fool,” Ferdinand said. “Rio [his brother, who plays for United] helped me to get through it as he’s been through things in his life.”

West Ham United (4-5-1) R Green 6 L Neill 6 J Spector 7 M Upson 8 G McCartney 7 N Solano 8 H Mullins Y 7 S Parker 6 M Noble 6 F Ljungberg 6 C Cole 8 Substitutes J Pantsil 7 (for Solano, 50min), A Ferdinand 6 (for Parker, 56), D Ashton 5 (for Ljungberg, 70). Not used R Wright, H Camara.

Manchester United (4-4-2) T Kuszczak 5 W Brown 6 R Ferdinand 6 N Vidic 5 P Evra 6 C Ronaldo 6 O Hargreaves 5 D Fletcher 5 R Giggs 6 L Saha 5 C Tévez 5 Substitutes Anderson 5 (for Tévez, 64), Nani (for Hargreaves, 80), J O’Shea (for Brown, 89) Not used T Heaton, G Piqué

Referee M Dean
Attendance 34,966