Rampant Rooney Secures Win For Man. United Against Hammers

Wayne Rooney took his goal tally to 27 for the season as Manchester United saw off West Ham to move to within a point of Premier League leaders Chelsea.

The in-form frontman opened the scoring with a firm header from Antonio Valencia's excellent volleyed cross.

And another Valencia cross was headed home by Rooney for the hosts' second, before substitute Michael Owen clipped a late third from Paul Scholes's pass.

West Ham battled bravely, but fell away in the face of Rooney's brilliance.

It was another sensational performance from the England forward, and one that rendered a Hammers display full of spirit, if lacking in final-third quality, pointless.

Still, the visitors need feel no shame in failing to find a way to stop Rooney at Old Trafford - they are by no means the first this season - and how national coach Fabio Capello will be hoping his key striker maintains this form up to and through the World Cup this summer.

The thought of where Manchester United would be this term without Rooney must at times send shivers down the spines of their fans, and once again the striker was the hosts' inspiration, his touch and movement first class, and his form in front of goal simply unstoppable.

It was he who almost single-handedly dragged the hosts out of a lacklustre opening to near domination as the game dragged to a close.

On the back of Saturday's defeat by Everton, and perhaps with half an eye on Sunday's Carling Cup final against Aston Villa, Sir Alex Ferguson made five changes, with the likes of Ben Foster, Anderson and Darron Gibson brought in from the cold.

However, the changes served only to produce a disjointed first-half display and, but for Rooney, West Ham may have taken advantage.

Playing on the counter, the visitors went close when Valon Behrami lashed wide after being played in by Alessandro Diamanti, while the Italian almost embarrassed Foster in the home goal when his deflected shot was parried down onto the goal line by the keeper.

At the other end, Valencia should have done better when his air-shot inside the box allowed a good chance to go awry in the opening 10 minutes, before Robert Green produced a smart double stop from the winger's shot and Dimitar Berbatov's flicked follow-up.

But as the game neared the break, the Hammers appeared more than comfortable - that is until Rooney's goal-scoring intervention.

It was a marvellous move. Berbatov collected Ji-Sung Park's pass and crossed for Valencia, who volleyed expertly into the six-yard area where the unmarked Rooney slammed home a header.

That lead was almost doubled seconds into the second half when Park rattled the crossbar from Valencia's low cross, and yet there was still a feeling that West Ham were in it if they could get the dangerous Carlton Cole and Diamanti on to the ball.

But the hosts effectively settled the game on 55 minutes, Valencia - a close rival for the man-of-the-match award - again the provider from the right for Rooney to head past the sprawling Green.

West Ham, on the back of two Premier League wins for the first time in nearly a year, refused to compromise their footballing approach and continued to probe at the Manchester United backline.

But with the returning Nemanja Vidic marshalling the defence brilliantly, clear-cut chances were very much at a premium for the Hammers.

And as it turned out it was another England striker who put the match firmly to bed in the 80th minute, Owen dashing on to Scholes's pin-point pass and chipping over Green's dive and into the net.

West Ham were aggrieved that play was not stopped in the build up to the goal with Mark Noble lying injured, but referee Alan Wiley was unmoved as Owen raced clear to fire into the corner.

There was still time for Scholes to fashion a chance for a fourth, only for the midfielder to blast high and wide from 16 yards out.

A fourth would have been harsh on the visitors, though, and West Ham will now look ahead to their potentially crucial six-pointer against relegation rivals Bolton at the weekend.

Ferguson, meanwhile, will comfort himself with the knowledge that while his side are looking to win the league cup for a fourth time in their history, they cannot fall any further than four points off the Premier League summit with 10 matches left in the campaign.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson:
"We had to win and we did that. In the second half, especially, we played some really good football and it could have been more.

"But we're happy with the three points. Wayne Rooney was magnificent again. They were two excellent headers, although there was also some good play from Antonio Valencia.

"Now there will be changes on Sunday (for the cup final). I have done that all along in the competition and I will have to look at the situation to make sure we have a fresh team."

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola:
"We played some good football and looked like we were in the game for most of the first half, but after that we did not play as well.

"Manchester United are a fantastic team and we could not live with them. We probably played them at the wrong time after their defeat on Saturday and, in Rooney, they have a player who turns everything to gold. He is one of the most complete strikers in the world.

"Now we look ahead to the game against Bolton, which is absolutely massive for us."

Michael Owen was pleased to get his first goal since his hat-trick against Wolfsburg in December