United carved out their fair share of opportunities in the opening 10 minutes, with Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Antony all sending efforts marginally off target.
Rashford showed his sharpness again to beat Thilo Kehrer and smash a strike that hit the post on its way behind, while the Hammers struggled to create clear openings despite Michail Antonio posing questions with his runs behind the United backline.
However, on the day David de Gea became the United goalkeeper with the most appearances in club history, the Spaniard had a calamitous moment before the half-hour mark, astonishingly allowing Said Benrahma’s tame effort to trickle into the back of the net having got a hand to it.
It took a brilliant block from Luke Shaw to halt Jarrod Bowen’s strike as the Hammers hunted for a quickfire second, but United came close again as Antony became the second visiting attacker to be denied by the woodwork.
West Ham came flying out after the restart, but Antonio had a goal ruled out after the striker was deemed to have impeded De Gea. Even after that disappointment and Wout Weghorst testing Lukasz Fabianski shortly before being substituted, the Hammers were brimming with confidence as Tomas Soucek hit the side netting and Antonio glanced Lucas Paqueta’s venomous attempt wide.
Soucek then headed in from Paquetá’s cross as the hosts were denied a second again due to the midfielder straying offside.
The one goal proved enough thanks to Fabianski denying Rashford and Anthony Martial, as West Ham ended a run of three consecutive defeats to lift them seven points above the PL relegation zone, providing them with momentum going into the Hammers’ UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar.
United have no such momentum after suffering back-to-back defeats, and will need to pick up if they are to secure a top-four place and fulfil their own lofty European aspirations next season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Declan Rice (West Ham United)