Boss Thrilled By Hungry Reds

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the resolve of his champions after the Reds bounced back from defeat at Everton with a convincing victory over West Ham.

The Reds' limp display at Goodison Park allowed Chelsea to forge a four point lead at the head of the Premier League table, and Tuesday's victory cut the gap to a solitary point. As important as victory was, the United manager was delighted to see his side's desire to regain momentum in the hunt for a fourth straight title.

"We had to win," Sir Alex admitted to MUTV. "Saturday was disappointing, I think we all feel we were a bit drained by the emotions of the game in Milan, but you have to recover. I think what we showed tonight was a great appetite for the game.

"We were hungry to win the match and I think we deserved it thoroughly. But the football was good, we made chances, we had a good appetite and a good spread of our game. We used the ball very well in the second half."

United's attack combined to score three eye-catching goals against the Hammers, with Wayne Rooney's pair of headers preceding a clinical late third goal from substitute Michael Owen.

"It (the first) was a great, exciting goal," he said. "It was a great crossfield pass, a first-time delivery from Valencia and a marvellous header from Wayne. Then Valencia played a great one-two with Dimitar and it was a marvellous cross and a good finish from Wayne.

"Then Michael did what he always does. He makes great runs between defenders. It was a nice bit of football and a really good finish. We could have scored a lot of goals in the second half."

At the other end, two of the architects of a sixth successive home Premier League clean sheet also drew praise. Ben Foster and Nemanja Vidic made their first starts since November and December respectively, but prompted positive feedback form Sir Alex.

"Ben had two great saves in the second half – one in particular from Diamanti was an excellent save – and he did his job well," said the manager. "I think he was a bit anxious. His kicking was maybe a bit anxious, but his goalkeeping other than that was good.

"And Nemanja was absolutely brilliant. He was majestic in the air, he was powerful, his presence in itself is important, so it’s good to have him back."

Vidic's return bolsters the Reds' push for a record-breaking 19th league title, a quest which will need external help from other teams as United seek to reel in Chelsea. The Blues host Manchester City on Saturday, and Sir Alex is hopeful Roberto Mancini's side can prove unlikely allies.

"Well we hope so," he smiled. "City of course are a good side. They’re chasing that fourth place, they’ve got a lot of good players and they’ll have a chance because Chelsea are coming back from a game against Inter."