At the end, as the final whistle was blown, four West Ham United players flocked towards Ryan Giggs, all of them asking whether they could have the shirt off his back. It was like seeing a Western tourist being pestered on a beach in Koh Samui, but, charming to the last, Giggs offered an apologetic smile and a handshake and continued on his way, accepting an embrace from Paul Scholes and, finally, the adulation of the celebrating Manchester United supporters.

This was just another ordinary afternoon in the extraordinary life of Giggs, an occasion that will barely merit a footnote when the time comes to reflect on the career of the most decorated player in English football history. But, at the venerable age of 35, in the autumn of his football life, his every contribution is to be savoured. The second-half goal that sent United back to the top of the Barclays Premier League was merely a minor classic — a couple of delightful body swerves and a right-foot shot that deceived Robert Green — but, in the wider context, coming on his 786th appearance for the club as he approaches the 18th anniversary of his first-team debut, it seemed to carry an additional symbolism.

A generation of West Ham supporters have witnessed Giggs playing at Upton Park, going back to his first visit as a skinny teenager in April 1992 in the fateful week when United blew their chance of a first league title in a quarter of a century.

Since then, Giggs has won the Premier League no fewer than ten times and, never one to rest on his laurels, has set his heart on winning an eleventh, as he showed yet again yesterday with a performance that disproved any lingering doubts that people may have about whether he owes his place in the team to Sir Alex Ferguson’s underestimated sentimental streak.

It was not just the goal. It was the intelligence, the workrate, the willingness to run the extra mile. These qualities were why Ferguson selected him in an unfamiliar role on the right wing, in order to give young Rafael Da Silva the kind of protection that Cristiano Ronaldo, even with the best intentions, could never provide.

Sure enough, when Henry Ilunga, the West Ham full back, got away from Rafael near the corner flag with ten minutes remaining and prepared to send a cross into the United penalty area, it was Giggs who nipped in to take the ball away, clear the danger and to ensure that his team’s remarkable defensive record — now up to 13 consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League — continued.

Some will suggest that the record was never under threat, with Edwin van der Sar having only one notable save to make, but such a verdict would be harsh on West Ham, who showed why they have been able to make such progress under Gianfranco Zola in recent months.

Some of their football was excellent, Scott Parker pulling the strings while Valon Behrami, Mark Noble and Jack Collison tried to pick holes in the United defence. No such holes were to be found, however. Even if Carlton Cole, eager to impress the watching Fabio Capello, gave Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic the odd awkward moment, there was always a United player willing to get a foot to the ball to divert it to safety.

If there was a criticism of West Ham, it was that their devotion to neat, one-touch football at times bordered on the overelaborate — a case of Arsenal syndrome, as it might be known.

Cole is in such a rich vein of form, with six goals in eight matches before yesterday, that he seemed at times to be afflicted by overconfidence. That would apply to his unsuccessful attempt to chip Van der Sar in the twelfth minute, after he had wrestled his way past Ferdinand, and to his belief that he could beat Ferdinand for a second time in a crowded penalty area after he was set up well by Behrami soon after.

United were below their best, struggling to raise their game, with Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tévez, the former West Ham forward, both looking out of sorts up front. Ronaldo, on the left-hand side, gave another of those curious performances, looking uninterested for long periods but still making some eye-catching contributions: an excellent run and cross from which Giggs volleyed wide, an instinctive shot that Green did well to push over the crossbar and, in the closing stages, a high-stepping run that was crudely cut short by David Di Michele on the edge of the penalty area, with Phil Dowd, the referee, turning a blind eye to the challenge.

By that stage, though, United had taken control, courtesy of Giggs. The veteran’s left-wing corner was headed away by Matthew Upson, but Noble, unwisely, ran straight into Vidic 25 yards from goal. Scholes sent the loose ball back out to the left-hand touchline and from then on it was the Giggs show.

A first body swerve took him around the wild sliding challenge of Cole and towards the penalty area. A second body swerve took him past Parker, who was evidently expecting him to turn back on to his left foot.

And from there, on a diagonal run, he sent a right-foot shot through a crowd of players and past Green into the bottom corner of the net. It was not the greatest goal he will score, or even the most important, but, as United’s man for all seasons continues to shape his legacy, it felt as symbolic as just about any other.

West Ham (4-1-3-1-1): R Green 5 - L Neill 6, J Collins 7, M Upson 6, H Ilunga 6 - S Parker 7 - V Behrami 6, M Noble 6, J Collison 6 - D Di Michele 6 - C Cole 7. Substitutes: Savio (for Noble, 77), D Tristán (for Behrami, 87). Not used: J Lastuvka, J Spector, R Kovac, L Boa Morte, F Sears. Next: Bolton (a).

Man Utd (4-4-2): E van der Sar 6 - Rafael Da Silva 6, R Ferdinand 7, N Vidic 6, J O’Shea 6 - R Giggs 7, M Carrick 6, P Scholes 6, C Ronaldo 6 - D Berbatov 5, C Tévez 5. Substitutes: Park Ji Sung (for Tévez, 87). Not used: B Foster, Fabio Da Silva, A Eckersley, D Fletcher, Nani, D Welbeck. Next: Fulham (h).

Referee: P Dowd Attendance: 34,958