Premier League: Manchester United v West Ham United full time report
Manchester United 3 West Ham 0
Manchester United eased past West Ham at Old Trafford, as Wayne Rooney broke a scoring duck that had spanned back to March.
Rooney sent Rob Green the wrong way from the penalty spot after Jonathan Spector had fouled Ryan Giggs in the first half, as the dominant hosts took control.
Nani, who had hit the crossbar in the first half, doubled his side’s advantage with a strong run and shot shortly after the break, before the Portuguese set up Dimitar Berbatov to acrobatically volley the third.
West Ham never really troubled the home side, although Kieron Dyer did clip the post in the second half.
Manchester United won their first home league game of the season by three goals to nil too, against Newcastle, and this game followed a very similar pattern to that.
The hosts made a slow start, although Rooney did test Green with a low drive, and then shot over when well placed.
With Nani and Berbatov at the centre of all of their good work, Manchester United were dominating possession, with West Ham chasing and hurrying them at every opportunity. Mark Noble was booked for one crunching challenge on Rooney.
Yet still Sir Alex Ferguson’s men weren’t really testing their visitors, although Nani did fire a free kick over before, from the best move of the match, hitting an effort that Green tipped onto the crossbar.
A good run from Dyer ended in a shot into the side netting – West Ham’s only real effort of the first half – but United were slowly coming to life now, and it wasn’t long before they would have their inevitable lead, albeit with the help of one of their old boys.
Former Manchester United defender Spector’s challenge on Giggs was the very definition of ‘clumsy’ and after referee Mark Clattenburg had immediately pointed to the spot, up stepped Rooney to end the longest goalless run of his career – 13 matches for club and country – by sending Green the wrong way.
Many would have expected the floodgates to open now, but Green made a terrific stop to deny Darren Fletcher, before both Berbatov and Nani ballooned chances over the bar when both looked primed to score.
The Portuguese would have his moment just five minutes into the second half though, and after Paul Scholes and Rooney had combined well, Nani ran at the heart of the West Ham defence, which appeared to open up, inviting him to shoot. After Danny Gabbidon fell, he did shoot, firing a left footed effort past an exposed Green.
Welsh defender Gabbidon made a terrific last ditch block to deny Rooney, before, almost out of nowhere, a good West Ham move ended with Julien Faubert’s flick finding Dyer, who struck the outside of the post with a curling effort.
The inconsistent Nani snatched at an effort after being found by Berbatov, Scholes shot straight at Green and Giggs curled a free kick over, but in truth this had stopped being a competitive match.
The scoreline would soon reflect that too as, after picking up a pass from John O’Shea, Nani floated a delightful cross to the far post where Berbatov was lurking, and the Bulgarian brilliantly volleyed in his side’s third from close range.
That was the end of the meaningful action, with the hosts content to play out the rest of the match without much incident.
West Ham have now lost all three of their opening Premier League matches, conceding three goals in each one, but they never looked like they wanted to trouble their hosts here.
Ferguson’s men won’t have many easier games, but they got the job done, and head into the international break in good spirits.
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