Source: Telegraph
Manchester United 3 West Ham 0: match report
Another labour complete. Wayne Rooney, Manchester United's Cristiano incarnate, finds himself tasked with proving he is a worthy heir to the Portuguese's crown, handed challenge after challenge as he bids to earn the right to the epithet world-class. First he stormed the San Siro. Here, he proved he can carry an entire side on his shoulders.[LNB]At least for West Ham. Rooney knows only life at full throttle, struggles to remove his pedal from the metal. Even as the flurries of snow began, even with the Carling Cup final looming, he only has one gear.[LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League tablePremier League actionTelegraph player raterPremier League fixturesOwen: Rooney could extend my England exileGill is not the enemy withinSuch was his energy, with a greater slice of fortune and greater faith he might have taken his tally to 30 for the season in all competitions in one fell swoop. Fortune deserted him as he hunted Rob Green down as the goalkeeper waited, in vain, for the ball to run out of play; Rooney's curling shot from the left blocked on the line.[LNB]Faith, too, was missing as he barged through West Ham's crumbling rearguard but could not work the ball onto his right as he bore down on Green. His left foot, it seems, remains a work in progress.[LNB]It was left to Michael Owen to add the gloss, the striker latching on to Paul Scholes's through ball and beating Green with ease as West Ham appealed to Alan Wiley to stop play and allow Mark Noble to receive treatment. On the bench, the man he replaced, Rooney, applauded politely, though his face gave away his loathing of being removed. United's heart never stops beating.[LNB]This was precisely the sort of game which made Ronaldo such an invaluable asset. The Portuguese, so often in his United career, would come to the fore in finely-balanced games, crafting a goal in the blink of an eye, playing the pass few others could see, hitting the corner nobody else could hit.[LNB]Ronaldo made a difference. Now, in his absence, so does Rooney. He separates United, the would-be champions, from the ordinary.[LNB]Presented with the PFA fans' player of the month award before the game, Rooney has, ever since he joined the club, been United's heart and lungs, his commitment complete, his energy undimmed. The difference this season, though, is that he is now their brain, as well as their brawn. He sets the tempo, he dictates the play, right from the off.[LNB]It was his delicate through ball which seemed to hand the impressive Antonio Valencia the chance to open the scoring, to exorcise the ghosts of Saturday lunchtime at Goodison Park, as early as the seventh minute. The Ecuadorian, ever more comfortable in his surrounds, produced an immaculate first touch, but scuffed his shot.[LNB]The escape seemed to encourage West Ham. Gianfranco Zola's side, mired in the relegation zone for much of the season but boosted into the heady heights of 13th after consecutive wins going into this game, had arrived at Old Trafford brimming with confidence, the Italian's team selection - two strikers and the offensively-minded Alessandro Diamanti - belying his intention to attack.[LNB]The visitors were unfortunate not to find their ambition rewarded. Just moments after Rooney, raiding from deep on the left hand side, had been denied a mesmerising goal by James Tomkins, Valon Behrami, set through by the otherwise anodyne Guillermo Franco, fired across Foster's goal.[LNB]A minute later, the goalkeeper, selected ahead of Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak, found himself flummoxed by Diamanti's shot as it looped wildly off Gary Neville, dropping the ball on the line as Old Trafford, his heart no doubt in his mouth. Foster gathered at the second attempt.[LNB]United were limp, loose, as they had been at Goodison to such cost. Darron Gibson tried his luck from long-range three times, but found Green equal to them all.[LNB]he England international denied Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov, too, but there was no cutting edge to United's play, no swagger, no scythe. Enter Rooney.[LNB]First, a bullet of a header from little more than six yards after Berbatov and Valencia crafted the best move of the game. Then, before the break, a quite brilliant flick, swivel and shot which left Green stranded, but landed on the roof of the net. After it, with the second attack of the half - Park Ji-Sung had, rather unfortunately, cracked a shot against the bar with the first - a simple header from a Valencia cross, three yards out. Game over.[LNB]
