He was joined on the sidelines by close friend Gary Neville, who did not travel because of a thigh injury.

The absence of that international pair added to Sir Alex Ferguson's injury woes with Rio Ferdinand (thigh), Roy Keane (hip) and Nicky Butt (ankle) already missing.

However, United were boosted by the return of Wes Brown, following a three-month lay-off with an ankle injury.

Brown was in the thick of things immediately, intercepting a flick from West Ham captain Paolo di Canio guided into the path of a burst from Defoe which snuffed out the England Under-21 striker on the edge of the area.

As with last season's goal-heavy encounter, the initial exchanges were very open.

Paul Scholes, filling in on the right in Beckham's absence, miscued a left-footer from distance before an intricate passing move climaxed with Ruud van Nistelrooy shooting beyond David James, from an advanced offside position.

Then, at the other end it required a timely intervention from John O'Shea to take the ball off Defoe's toes at the back post when Joe Cole delivered a telling centre from the right.

Cole and Defoe thought they had made a greater impact in the 19th minute, however, as West Ham had the ball in the net.

Trevor Sinclair crossed from the right and Cole's powerful free header came back off the upright for Defoe's midriff to divert home from close range - only for a linesman's flag to rule it out.

That offside decision - Defoe was deemed to be in advance of the backline when Cole guided goalwards - summed up West Ham's season at Upton Park.

Nevertheless, the hosts appeared undeterred and continued on the offensive.

Their endeavour beckoned trouble on the half-hour, however, when di Canio's trickery was ended on the edge of the United area and United launched a rapid counter.

Quinton Fortune, making his 50th United appearance, fed Ryan Giggs, whose pace sliced into the gaping space ahead of him and allowed a cross-shot on the run which James held down to his left.

Fortune was effective in mopping up anything loose in front of United's backline and from one such instance the visitors took the lead.

West Ham only half-cleared a United corner and Fortune retrieved to begin an attack down the left where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer slid across for van Nistelrooy, who delicately lifted the ball over the sprawling James from the edge of the six-yard box for his 11th goal of the season.

Glenn Roeder's side should have been further adrift at the interval, though, as James' attempted clearance from near the left-hand touchline rebounded off van Nistelrooy into Solskjaer's path - but the Norwegian forward, some 30 yards out, rushed his shot at an empty net and guided it wide.

Although they did not play like a side that have not won in eighth Premiership attempts this season, they displayed occasional nerves.

United's dominance at the end of the first period mirrored their recent record at this ground.

Despite being denied the championship in 1995 when a draw - one of six such results in United's previous nine league visits here - allowed Blackburn to wear England's crown, Ferguson has not tasted Premiership defeat at Upton Park in a decade.

Scholes might have ushered the visitors closer to a fourth win shortly after the re-start but his well-struck drive was just off-target.

That encouraged the under-fire Roeder to gesticulate to his team from the edge of his technical area.

The response was a succession of crosses into the United area which were repelled time and again by captain Laurent Blanc and Co.

And United continued to be at their most threatening on the break with Solskjaer dragging just wide after van Nistelrooy and Scholes sprang from deep.

Yet the home side were inches away from a leveller midway through the second half when di Canio touched on and Defoe, racing clear, lofted a volley onto the top of the woodwork.

That misfortune suggested West Ham would be bottom of the Premiership tonight but Defoe, 20, did haul the Hammers level with five minutes remaining.

Michael Carrick found himself in an advanced position and linked with di Canio before threading through for Defoe, who was adjudged onside, and he poked in from six yards.

A little under a year ago, Defoe's goal at Old Trafford led to a sixth Premiership defeat of the season for United, who were apparently relinquishing their title without much of a tussle.

But that result spurred an incredible run of 12 wins in 13 matches and propelled them from ninth to top spot, only to be overhauled by Arsenal's supreme surge and Liverpool's late form.

Having been written off last December, Ferguson's men relished upsetting the odds and given their injury blight may have to do so again to keep pace with the Premiership front-runners.

They may have escaped with all three points after Christian Dailly's slip let in Solskjaer but James blocked the shot with his legs and the England goalkeeper made a miraculous stop from Blanc's glancing header in injury-time.