Manchester United turned up the heat on Arsenal with their latest success against a Birmingham side who last beat the Old Trafford club 25 years ago.
It was not a classic United win but one which they ground out to clinch the game with a 56h minute strike from their noted matchwinner, Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Dutch star would readily admit that it was not one of his best goals but it was vital as it closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal.
Roy Keane, who once again demonstrated his value to United, created the movement which led to the goal.
The Irishman played a high ball to the left to Mikael Silvestre who slipped before regaining his feet to put over a low cross which found van Nistelrooy.
Although he had his back to goal he turned to score with shot into the corner of the net.
Manchester United, winners of their previous five games, were clearly a class above a hard working City side, but never had it all their own way.
With Ryan Giggs operating in a central attacking role United seemingly toyed with the opposition in the opening exchanges but this eventually turned into frustration as Birmingham harried the opposition at every turn.
Skipper Keane was in control of midfield and sprayed around numerous fine passes to penetrate Birmingham's defence keen to make amends for a disastrous performance in their previous outing at Bolton.
Juan Vernon was also prominent with some astute work as United took control of the proceedings without being able to break through a resolute Birmingham.
Beckham had a couple of free-kicks from just outside the penalty area but the England skipper was well off target on both occasions.
Very little was seen of Birmingham's attack and Frenchman Christophe Dugarry could make little or no impression against the solid United defence which often to stroll through the game such was their control of the match.
But in the 32nd minute Birmingham raised the hopes of their fans in a sell-out crowd when Veron had to clear a Robbie Savage header off the line following a right-wing corner from Stephen Clemence.
The incident was certainly a big encouragement to Birmingham and they immediately raised their attacking play to apply some concentrated pressure on the United defence.
Birmingham, however, had a let off when Paul Scholes slammed a shot against the bar.
United were eventually rewarded with the 56th minute goal from van Nistelrooy, but still struggled to build upon this advantage as Birmingham commendably harried Alex Ferguson's side at every opportunity.