West Bromwich Albion 1 - 2 Manchester United

Saha took his tally for the campaign to 13 with a firm, first-half header followed by a well-taken second after the interval.

The Frenchman's efforts proved enough to see of a spirited West Brom side, who forced their way back into the game through Nathan Ellington late on.

Although the Baggies could not find a second, the increased threat was enough to convince Sir Alex Ferguson to keep Van Nistelrooy shivering on the bench, his chances of an instant return to action against Birmingham next week almost non-existent.

The debate over whether Van Nistelrooy should return after missing United's last three games was largely rendered meaningless by the Dutchman's trip home to attend the funeral of his wife's grandfather this week.

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United were concerned enough about their top scorer to send a car to pick him up from the airport after his early morning flight back to the UK and unite him with his team-mates a couple of hours before kick-off.

It has been a week for funerals and memorials in the Red Devils camp - Park Ji-sung missed out altogether after heading back to Korea following a family bereavement - and it was Ferguson's presence at Jimmy Johnstone's funeral on Friday which meant his assistant Carlos Queiroz was the man dishing out public assurances over Van Nistelrooy's long-term Old Trafford future.

Yet the feeling persists Van Nistelrooy will not hang around in the summer if he remains in exile, which, on current evidence, is exactly where he will be.

With 148 United goals to his name, Van Nistelrooy's continued absence may be a substantial talking point, but Saha's case to be part of Ferguson's starting line-up is beyond dispute.

His additional pace and strength offers the Red Devils an extra dimension and the Frenchman is also a goal threat, and if not quite in the class of his illustrious team-mate, then prolific enough to justify his inclusion.

The 16th-minute header which put the visitors in front was his 12th goal of a campaign which did not begin until November because of a persistent knee injury.

Wayne Rooney certainly enjoys playing alongside the former Fulham man, even if, for once, he was not quite the threat of recent times during a first half his side dominated.

West Brom's defence was at full stretch almost constantly trying to stem the flow of United's attacks.

After leaving Saha unmarked at a Giggs corner for his goal, Nemanja Vidic, in for groin-injury victim Wes Brown, failed to make the most of similar space in similar situations as two headers went soaring over.

Tomasz Kuszczak also produced a fine stop to deny Giggs when the Welshman charged clear after Saha had provided the telling pass at a time when the visitors were threatening a rout.

To their great credit, the Baggies emerged from their pummelling without suffering any further damage and had Edwin van der Sar not made two superb saves from Diomansy Kamara and Curtis Davies, the hosts would have been level at half-time.

United's chances of finding an equaliser after the interval were hindered by the reshuffles caused by the departures of Kevin Campbell and Diomansy Kamara, and as West Brom searched for some fluidity, Saha appeared to wash away their hopes of snatching anything from the game.

There was still plenty of work for Saha to do when Ronaldo flicked a pass into the area, but the Frenchman took the ball down with one brilliant first-touch before steering it into the bottom corner with an equally effective second.

It should have marked the end of Albion's resistance, but they fought back and substitute Ellington breathed fresh life into the contest 12 minutes from time when he rose to nod home Jonathan Greening's corner in the same clinical manner Saha had done earlier.

West Brom threw everything forward looking for a priceless equaliser, but in the end it was United who came closest to scoring again as Ronnie Wallwork denied Saha a hat-trick with a fine close-range block.