Gibson 61

                                                                                                                       Rooney 72

Manchester United moved to within two points of EPL leaders Chelsea with this convincing destruction of struggling West Ham at Upton Park.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team had to wait until almost the last kick of a tight, rather dull first half to see his team break the deadlock with a trademark Paul Scholes strike from the edge of the box.

But as West Ham were forced to open out in search of an equaliser after the interval they were picked off almost at will by the visitors’ slick passing and movement, and another wonder strike from their man of the moment, young Irish midfielder Darron Gibson.

The win came at a price, though. Already fielding a makeshift back four thanks to injury and illness, they lost Gary Neville and Wes Brown during the game.

And while their dominance of the second half avoided the need for almost any defending at all, they will have a selection headache going into their Champions League trip to Wolfsburg, a match they may need to take something from to win their group.

The Hammers could have taken a 26^th minute lead when Ryan Giggs gave the ball away to Zavon Hines, who set up Jack Collinson for a close-range opportunity. However, it was none other than Giggs himself who made the last-ditch, goal-saving block.

Gary Neville limped off with a groin strain shortly afterwards but his side led at the break thanks to Scholes chest control and left-foot volley, Hammers keeper Robert Green palming the ball into the roof of his net.

Gibson doubled the advantage on 61 minutes with a spectacular 25-yard right-foot pile driver past Green’s left hand.

And two goals in a minute gave the scoreline an emphatic look when Antonio Valencia slid home Anderson’s left-wing cross from close range on 71 minutes and turned provider for Wayne Rooney to do likewise a minute later.