VIEW: United vs West Ham. 3-0

A slow, often lethargic start from both sides suggested that a token 'scrappy win for United' would be the final outcome; regardless of which United would come out on top. But this nonchalant encounter was suddenly and rather unexpectedly transformed into a masterclass of forms. Berbatov's vision, Valencia's ingenuity and Rooney's sheer clinical finishing ability saw us take the lead beautifully; rejecting the preconceived sloppy aura of the match and suddenly sparking us into gear.




As soon as the deadlock was broken, you felt there was no coming back from West Ham; and equally no stopping United.




Our next, most meaningful chance came literally seconds after the restart. A sweeping, free-moving attack eventually ended up at the feet of the wanting Park, who's curling effort was unluckily smashed against the woodwork. That undoubtedly set us up nicely for the rest of the match, and so the second came 10 minutes later to all but end the tie.




The exact same format used for the first was utilised just as effectively for the second; seeing off the non-existant West Ham threat effectively and rather effortlessly with less than an hour played. Berbatov's pass to Valencia was even more perfectly placed than his cross for the first, and Valencia's assist was yet again the ideal ball for someone as keen on heading the ball as Rooney.

Seriously, what more can be said about him? 27 goals by February is the sort of form Ronaldo was on two seasons ago that we thought we'd never see again. A year later and Ronaldo 'only' hit 26, where as Rooney was not too far behind on 20 (compared to 18 in 2008). Well here we are, just passed the mid-way stage of this season and already Rooney has surpassed both his own and the great Ronaldo's totals for last term. Plenty more to come one feels...and lets just pray, that with this sort of form combined with the creativity and innovative thinking of the players around him, all those goals will bring us no.19.

Good.

Aside from cutting the gap at the top back to 1 point, and Rooney grabbing his 26th and 27th of the season, it was pretty damn awesome to see Owen get his first league goal since the derby winner. A brilliantly taken, 'typically Owen' goal completed the nights goalscoring.

Bad.

The biggest disappointment of the night was undoubtedly the knee injury sustained by Anderson. After a through-ball played into Rooney appeared to irritate his left knee, Ando rather foolishly continued playing on it until he couldn't take any more.

Also Scholes's miss towards the end. He did all the brilliant work to find the space and create the chance...only to blast it uncharacteristically wide. When he was scoring goals for fun, he would have knocked 20 in like this in his sleep. Although not quite the prolific goalscorer he once was, at least his influence is still felt profoundly across other areas of the field.