‘Just when it seemed that fortune was always hiding from West Ham they got a welcome and well-deserved wink from Lady Luck at Upton Park yesterday. Trailing to Ruud van Nistelrooy's sublime finish, Glenn Roeder's hosts were within five minutes of another barrage of hurtful headlines when Jermain Defoe equalised from an offside position.
After rolling the ball past Fabien Barthez, Defoe glanced nervously wide to check for a linesman's flag. "When I saw there was no flag, I went down on my knees and said 'Thank God'," said Defoe. "It looked offside," admitted Roeder.
Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side now lie nine points behind Arsenal with a third of the season gone, was busy doing his familiar impression of a kettle rattling around on top of an Aga. "I admire the way West Ham play but they had to thank the linesman," said Ferguson. "Defoe was clearly a yard offside and it was a bad performance from the linesman."
Sour grapes. United had themselves been smiled on by the fates earlier in the game: Defoe hit the bar while Van Nistelrooy was initially returning from an offside position as his team-mates built for the Dutchman's goal. Ferguson's men were also penned back for periods by a West Ham side looking anything but relegation material.’