Man United Ham-mered

Man United lead the league with 44 points, two more than two time defending champions Chelsea. Liverpool are third with 31 points and Arsenal are fourth with 30.

8220;We have got to show our mettle ourselves,8221; Man United manager Alex Ferguson said. 8220;That8217;s the hallmark of champions and we8217;ve proved that many times it in the past. This team is young enough to be able to do that,8221; he added.

West Ham are still in 18th place with 17 points, but there8217;s only three points between the Hammers and 13th-place Manchester City, who lost to Tottenham 2-1 off goals from Tom Huddlestone and Calum Davenport.

Reo-Coker scored with a close-range shot after Marlon Harewood had played the ball back to him from the edge of the field. 8220;We8217;ve got something to build on now. With a bit of confidence, anything can happen,8221; Curbishley said. West Ham had another clear chance in the first half, with Jonathan Spector setting up Bobby Zamora for a shot on goal that United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved.

Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney had first-half shots blocked by West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green, who also dived to his right to palm away an attempt by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 55th.

On Wednesday, Curbishley signed a three-and-a-half year contract at the club where he started his career, two days after Alan Pardew was fired.

8220;Curbs has stamped his authority and he wanted us to get back to basics,8221; Reo-Coker said. 8220;It8217;s a tremendous win for us, especially with Manchester United at the top of the table, and we needed to push ourselves on from there,8221;he added.

This was the first time Curbishley has beaten Manchester United as a manager. In the last 15 years he was the manager of Charlton, he drew twice and lost 12 times.

8220;We8217;ve come here at a time where there8217;s a great upsurge in energy and enthusiasm and optimism,8221; Ferguson said. 8220;Obviously if they played like that every week, they wouldn8217;t be in that position.8221;

In the Chelsea match Drogba scored with a bending ball that went over the head of Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and came just moments after he had hit the post. The goal came only six minutes after Frank Lampard had equalised for the two-time defending champions.