Wayne Rooney’s hat-trick helps Manchester United beat West Ham United 4-2: EPL News
A remarkable second half comeback helped Manchester United beat West Ham United 4-2 in an English Premier League encounter at Upton Park on Saturday afternoon. Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick for the visitors, who fought back to score four goals in the second half after trailing 2-0 at half time.
Avram Grant named an unchanged West Ham side that played out a goalless draw in their last EPL fixture. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Demba-Ba-c10812 and Carlton Cole started upfront in a 4-4-2 formation for the hosts.
Meanwhile, Manchester United made wholesale changes to their team that beat Bolton Wanders 1-0, two weeks back. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 started upfront, while Antonio Valencia and Ji-Sung Park operated on the wings.
The Red Devils made a positive start to the game as they came close to opening the scoring in the fourth minute. Chris Smalling thumped a powerful header from Ryan Giggs’ corner kick but goalkeeper Robert Green made a sharp save to tip the ball over the crossbar.
West Ham United were awarded a penalty kick in the 11th minute of the game when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Patrice-Evra-c29231 handled the ball inside his own penalty area. Mark Noble stepped up to take the spot kick and drilled his shot into the bottom right corner to give the Hammers a 1-0 lead.
After trailing very early in the match, United looked to find an equaliser and they could have levelled the scores, but defender Manuel Da Costa made a superb sliding clearance to deny http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Valencia-c6345’s powerful shot from six yards.
The hosts were awarded another penalty in the 25th minute, after http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nemanja-Vidic-c27550 brought down Carlton Cole inside the box. Noble smashed a powerful shot into the top corner of the net to make it 2-0 for the hosts, leaving the travelling fans stunned into silence.
The Red Devils were all-out attacking after going two goals down and goalkeeper Green added to their worries, as the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 goalkeeper made two superb saves from Park and Valencia.
Manchester United made a change at half time; Evra was replaced by Javier Hernandez to add more fire power to the attack. The substitution almost paid instant dividends, as the Mexican found himself clear on goal after the restart, but lost the ball inside the penalty area.
The visitors looked a completely different team in the second half, as Sir Alex Ferguson's infamous hair-dryer treatment during the break seemed to be working.
The Red Devils were awarded a free kick from 20-yards out after Rooney was brought down by Da http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Costa-c9458. Rooney curled an exquisite shot which beat everyone and found the back of the net, to make it 2-1.
Minutes later, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Giggs-c31985 played Rooney inside the box, who gathered the ball superbly before hammering it into the far corner to make it 2-2 and register his 100th English Premier League goal.
United were on their way to completing a remarkable turnaround when the visitors were awarded a penalty in the 78th minute. The referee gave a harsh decision against Matthew Upson for handling the ball, even though replays showed no contact. Rooney sent Green the wrong way to complete a remarkable hat-trick and make it 3-2 for the Red Devils.
The visitors were on a roll at Upton Park, as this time Hernandez was fed by Giggs inside the box, and the Mexican finished his effort with panache to seal the game at 4-2 for Manchester United.
Manchester United take on Fulham in their next league fixture on 9th March, whereas West Ham United will take on Bolton Wanderers the same day.
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