Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his FIFPro World Player of the Year award with a first half brace to propel Manchester United to a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday.

The defending champions dominated West Ham throughout the game and should have won by a more comfortable margin. Ronaldo put United in the lead in the 14th minute before a brilliant skill from Dimitar Berbatov allowed the Portuguese winger to tap the ball into an empty net on the half hour mark.

Keen to bounce back from their disappointing draw to Everton in their last match, United were on the attack right from the kick off and came very close to taking an early lead in the 2nd minute when Berbatov's side-footed shot took a deflection over the bar.

Nani went close to breaking the deadlock minutes later but his shot flew inches wide of the post. The Portuguese winger was in action once again in the 14th minute but crossed the ball for Ronaldo to slot home from close range.

United were dominating the possession with West Ham struggling to create any real chances of note as Tomasz Kuszczak spent a comfortable time in the goal. Nani and Anderson had great chances to double the lead but were unable to hit the back of the net.

The hosts finally doubled the lead in the 30th minute when Berbatov raced past the West Ham defense towards the byline, beat Collins with a brilliant touch and crossed the ball for Ronaldo to tap into an empty net with Robert Green hopelessly out of position.

United continued to have a lion's share of the possession but took the foot off the pedal with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez going closest to scoring a third for the hosts.