Premier League Update: Manchester United Cut West Ham to size with 3-0 win- Rooney, Nani and Berbatov were the scorers
Manchester United Cut West Ham to size at Old Trafford in a convincing 3-0 win. United seemed threatening during the 1st half but the 2nd half really saw them come out and play. Hammers were down to damage limitation and were looking not to concede rather than getting a goal. It was fitting for United that one of their best players of the night was Nani, the man who was under constant scanner after missing the all important penalty at Craven Cottage last week.
1st half was dominated by the home side, and they came close to scoring numerous times but the final product was missing from all the silky moves. It was looking as if United were sizing up the opposition. Giggs made a surge in the opposition box but he was brought down by Jonathan Spector. Rooney scored from the resulting penalty and got his name on the score sheet after more than 5 months. The first half ended at 1-0. There was obvious threat for West Ham that they might be in for a drubbing if they do not pick their game up.
That is exactly what happened in the 2nd 45 minutes. The first real move after the break came when, Ryan Giggs picked right up where he had left off in the first half, dancing around a couple of Hammers’ midfielders before being cleverly disposed by Danny Gabbidon.
United continued to press, and finally there was some sort of redemption for Nani. He collected a lovely lay-off from Wayne Rooney, skipped inside a West Ham defender and slammed an unstoppable left footed shot in the back of the net.
With this, Red Devils had really started to play, West Ham could sense it was about to get much tougher in the next 40 minutes. Nani, Dimitar Berbatov and Rooney combined well with some one-touch play, and only a brilliant diving tackle from Gabbidon prevented the latter pulling the trigger 16 yards from goal.
Kieron Dyer was West Ham’s best player by a distance. He went within inches of reducing West Ham's deficit when, running on to Carlton Cole's clever flick, he curled right-footed on to the outside of Edwin van der Sar's left-hand post. On the break, Rooney threatened to get clear of the Hammers defense, so defender Matthew Upson cynically brought him down, resulting in an obvious Yellow card.
West Ham boss Avram Grant decided that it was time to roll the dice, and on came Pablo Barrera in place of the fairly anonymous Julien Faubert. Dimitar Berbatov was starting to show the link-up play that can be his forte, and his lay-off found Paul Scholes, the midfielder's shot was straight at keeper Rob Green but it was another move easy on the eyes.
The home team earned a corner soon after. That was their seventh of the day compared to none for West Ham - but Nani failed to beat the first man and that was the end of it. Manchester United finally put the cherry on top of an excellent performance, when, Nani received John O'Shea's pass in the box and he clipped a doozy of a cross to the back post, where Berbatov met it with a flying volley that rocketed into the net. It was just what the Bulgarian had deserved; he had been far more energetic and looked hungry to perform.
With 12 minutes to go, there was Triple substitution for Manchester United - Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov came off, and Michael Owen, Michael Carrick and Chris Smalling were sent on. United continued to toy with West Ham and finally the match ended 3-0. United are still 3rd in the league, with Chelsea on top and Arsenal above them on better goal difference.
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