Wayne Rooney struck a
second-half hat-trick as Manchester United
came from two goals down to
beat West
Ham 4-2 and
strengthen their position at the top of the Premier
League.
Mark Noble had scored twice from the penalty spot at Upton Park
but the hosts felt Nemanja Vidic should have been dismissed by
referee Lee Mason for denying Demba Ba a goalscoring
opportunity.
United took full advantage in the second half, with Rooney
pulling a goal back before levelling with his 100th league goal for
his club.
The England striker then established a lead with a penalty after
Matthew Upson's handball, before Javier Hernandez grabbed
another.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson watched the match unfold from
the stands as he is serving a touchline ban for criticising referee
Martin Atkinson.
After 10 minutes another decision went against his team when the
hosts took the lead through Noble's first penalty, after a move
that started on the edge of West Ham's penalty area.
Thomas Hitzlsperger's long pass out of defence released Carlton
Cole, whose attempt to lob the ball over Patrice Evra resulted in
the France international handling.
Noble kept his nerve and sent Tomasz Kuszczak the wrong way to
establish a lead, then doubled the advantage in the 25th minute
with another spot-kick.
Mason's decision for the second penalty may have angered
Ferguson, as Vidic was certain his challenge on Cole came outside
the area.
The Serbia international even pointed to the precise area he had
made the tackle as Cole danced in from the left, but Mason had
already made his decision.
Noble went for power with his second penalty, and in the
opposite corner, with his finish angling into the roof of the
net.
United were inevitably going to see more of the ball as they
chased the game, but their first sight of goal led to an athletic
save from Robert Green.
West Ham manager Avram Grant could not understand why Green did
not play for England against Ghana in Tuesday's friendly at Wembley
following his recent good form.
He produced a fine stop to deny Park Ji-Sung when the midfielder
was left unmarked and unleashed a powerful volley.
United also felt they should have had a penalty when Rooney's
poor control saw the ball flick up and strike Upson on the arm.
Vidic, though, was thankful for Mason's leniency when he was
only given a yellow card when he prevented Ba from racing through
on goal. Hitzlsperger flashed the resulting free-kick just
wide.
Hernandez was brought on at the half-time interval, with Ryan
Giggs moved to left-back as United looked to get back into the
game.
Rooney pulled a goal back with a spectacular curling free-kick
25 yards from goal after Noble had fouled Michael Carrick in the
65th minute, giving United momentum heading into the final phase of
the game.
Rooney then levelled the match when he collected Antonio
Valencia's pass, raced past Manuel Da Costa and fired his finish
beyond Green.
Dimitar Berbatov, on as a substitute, forced two saves from
Green but it was Rooney who grabbed the lead for them, tucking away
his penalty after Upson handled Fabio da Silva's cross.
Giggs crossed for Hernandez to tap in with six minutes remaining
to add gloss to the scoreline.
