Manchester United came from behind for a pulsating 2-1 Premier League win at West Ham United on Sunday in their first game since the death of the club's former great George Best.

A minute's applause rang around Upton Park before kickoff, while Best's former team mate Bobby Charlton paid tribute to the Northern Ireland winger who died in a London hospital on Friday.

Clapping and one-minute silences were properly observed at nearly every English game at the weekend, players wore black armbands and tributes flowed from former players and leading figures from around the world.

Sunday's match started badly, though, for Best's former club, who were behind after 52 seconds. But second-half goals from Wayne Rooney and John O'Shea turned the game around and hoisted United to second in the table behind champions Chelsea.

Charlton paid tribute to his former friend, who will be buried in his native Belfast next Friday, and the warmth of the Upton Park response.

"On behalf of everyone at Manchester United, I would like to say a big thank-you to everyone at West Ham who has put on this marvellous effort today," Charlton said.

"It doesn't really surprise me and I hope that what George Best has given to football will improve the game as we know it."

Once the match got underway, United were caught out by West Ham's very first attack, engineered by Matthew Etherington and coolly finished by striker Marlon Harewood.

A moment of great skill by Rooney, seen by some as a potential successor to Best, latching onto a pass from Park Ji-Sung and dodging his marker before firing home, made it all square in the 48th minute.

Irish defender John O'Shea rose to head the winner from a corner eight minutes later.

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