Summary: Robin Van Persie rescued a point for Manchester United as they were held to a 2-2 draw by West Ham at Upton Park.

Van Persie scored 13 minutes from time as United came from behind twice in east London to inch closer to recapturing the Premier League title from bitter rivals Manchester City.

The Hammers, who moved another point closer to safety, started strongly and were close to breaking the deadlock when Andy Carroll fired wide early on, before their early pressure was rewarded in the 16th minute when Ricardo Vaz Te nodded in from close range after Matt Jarvis cross had been headed back across goal.

Going behind provoked a reaction from the visitors and they equalised just after the half hour. Shinji Kagawa was the architect as he exchanged passes with Robin Van Persie and broke into the West Ham's penalty area before teeing up Antonio Valencia to sweep the ball into the net from two-yards.

The first half ended on a controversial note as Carroll flattened United keeper David de Gea with an aggressive aerial challenge that drew an infuriated Sir Alex Ferguson from the dugout. It got even worse for the Red Devils boss 10 minutes after the break as his side fell behind for the second time. Mohamed Diame collected Guy Demel's pass on the edge of the penalty area, turned Wayne Rooney and proceeded to bend a thunderous left-footed strike into the bottom corner past De Gea.

Unfortunately for West Ham resilience has underpinned United's ascent to the top this term and they restored parity for a second time with Van Persie, despite being in an offside position, on hand guide the ball home after Kagawa's spectacular 20-yard drive rebounded off the inside of the post.

The away side poured forward in search of a winner with Van Persie and substitute Javier Hernandez were denied by smart saves from Jussi Jaaskelainen, while Matty Taylor wastefully blazed over for the hosts late on.

Sam Allardyce post-match…"We had a fabulous win taken away from us by an assistant referee with Robin van Persie's equaliser. It was blatantly offside as we can all see. We would have been satisfied with a draw before the start but when you see a victory against one of the best teams in Europe taken away from you it is hard to take."

Sir Alex Ferguson post-match…"It was a red card. There is not a doubt about that. The referee did see it but didn't see it as a red card. He saw that incident and chose not to give him a red card. We are champions elect and we showed that tonight."

Good night for…Andy Carroll: Fought tooth and nail for everything lofted in his direction, held the ball up well and was a general nuisance for the United defence. Had a hand in Vaz Te's opener and made a vital interception to deny Van Persie late in the game.

Bad night for…Matty Taylor: Although the West Ham substitute spent only 10 minutes on the field he wasted a golden opportunity to earn all three points for his side when firing well over on the counter attack.