Report: West Ham 0-4 Manchester United

Manchester United swept West Ham aside at Upton Park to close the gap on league leaders Chelsea.

However, the victory came at a cost, with United Gary Neville due to injury in the first half, and then finishing the game with ten men after Wes Brown limped off.

The first half was a largely dull affair with neither side creating many clear cut chances to score.

West Ham had the first opportunity of the game, with Ryan Giggs giving the ball away inside his own area. However, the Welshman atoned for his error with an important interception to deny Jack Collison a simple goal.

Gary Neville then limped off on the half hour mark, forcing United to employ Michael Carrick as an emergency centre back.

Despite this setback for United, West Ham failed to capitalise and were made to pay when Paul Scholes broke the deadlock in added time at the end of the first half.

The veteran, who only yesterday seemed to be considering his United future, picked the ball up on the edge of the area, chested it down and sent his shot high into the top corner for his 99th Premier League goal.

West Ham started the second half brightly and possibly should have equalised almost straight away.

Guillermo Franco played an inch perfect ball through the heart of the United defence to Junior Stanislas, but the young striker hesitated, allowing Kuszczak to claim the ball.

They again went close before the hour mark through Tomkins, but the defender could only head his effort straight at Kuszczak in the United goal.

United then made them pay for their wastefulness in attack, adding a second goal in the 61st minute.

Giggs laid the ball off to Darron Gibson, who rifled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards to secure his third goal in a week.

This proved to be the platform that United needed to go on and kill the game off, with the Champions scoring twice in successive minutes to make sure of the victory.

Antonio Valencia got the first, tapping in Anderson’s low cross in the area after some good build up play.

He then turned provider moments later, crossing the ball for Wayne Rooney to get the fourth win an easy finish.

With this victory, United showed that they aren’t about to give up their pursuit of Chelsea at the top and will do all they can to secure a record breaking 19th League title.

What did you think of United’s display today? Will they be able to overhaul Chelsea and how will they cope as their defensive crisis deepens?

By Harry Veal