FOOTBALL Live

Saturday May 3, 2008 Finished Old Trafford

Manchester United 4 - Logo 1

Manchester United

  • Ronaldo 3’, 24’
  • Tevez 26’
  • Carrick 59’

West Ham

  • Ashton 28’
  1. United romp past Hammers

    United romp past Hammers

    After their midweek caution, Manchester United returned to their usual swashbuckling selves with a raucous 4-1 win against West Ham. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Manchester United
    • West Ham
    • 90+2' Referee Riley can't be bothered to play any more than 90 seconds of injury time and that is that. United superb, they are one more win away from retaining their Premier League title!
    • 90+1' United are getting forward a heck of a lot for a team with 10 men. Fletcher has men in the middle to aim for but his cross from the right is dismal.
    • 88' Carlos Tevez is all alone up front and smashes an optimistic shot into the crowd.
    • 86' Giggs slides Hargreaves in through the centre but Tomkins makes a great saving tackle.
    • 84' This match has been witnessed by the biggest Premier League crowd of the season - over 76,000.
    • 81' West Ham are trying to make an impact, but this United defence repelled Barcelona and, all things considered, West Ham are not Barcelona.
    • 78' Zamora hits a clean shot from 25 yards but it flashes straight into the midriff of Van der Sar.
    • 75' Freddie Sears comes on for Hayden Mullins as Alan Curbishley shoves three up front.
    • 75' Owen Hargreaves goes for a repeat of his goal against Arsenal but drags the free-kick about a yard wide of the left-hand post.
    • 73' Paul Scholes gets a chance to put his feet up for 20 minutes as he is replaced by John O'Shea.
    • 71' Fletcher off the post!! United have men over on the break and Giggs unselfishly finds the Scot unmarked on the right. But his sidefooted effort clangs back off the base of the left-hand upright!
    • 68' The ball nearly falls to Scholes after a Parker slip but McCartney bails his mate out before the midfielder can pull the trigger.
    • 66' Bobby Zamora is found guilty of a handball when controlling a long ball and is very harshly booked.
    • 64' A disappointed Cristiano Ronaldo comes off for Darren Fletcher and looks genuinely gutted. But you can understand Fergie taking him off, especially after that booking.
    • 62' Ryan Giggs comes on for Park Ji-Sung and is immediately on the attack.
    • 61' Ronaldo is booked for a wild hack at Pantsil. Looked like a bit of retribution for the repeated attempts of Solano to dislodge his shins from the rest of his leg.
    • 59' GOAL!! Michael Carrick makes it 4-1 with a deflected 25-yarder!! He picks the ball up at halfway and nobody closes him down until Neill, who inadvertently redirects the ball past Robert Green!
    • 57' There's the change - Carlton Cole for Dean Ashton. Meanwhile a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick is cleared for a corner.
    • 56' Ashton's movement has been compromised by what turns out to be a buttock strain. Surely Carlton Cole will be on before long.
    • 54' United are trying to slow the pace and dominate possession. At the moment they are doing a reasonable job. Tevez is tripped by Parker but again no free-kick.
    • 52' Luis Boa Morte goes off with an injury. Doesn't look like that foot problem from earlier, but he is certainly carrying himself with the air of a man who believes the world is against him. Cheer up Luis. Nolberto Solano comes on.
    • 51' It would seem that Lucas Neill was NOT BOOKED for his part in the Nani incident. No yellow card for the West Ham captain.
    • 50' Pantsil crosses dangerously from the right and Ferdinand clears. Parker steams in to try his luck from the edge of the box but his attempt goes well wide.
    • 48' Carlos Tevez has move out to the right side for United with Cristiano Ronaldo operating through the centre. Or at least that is how they line up early on.
    • 46' Second half under way. The last thing Manchester United need after a tough fortnight is an hour with 10 men, but that is the reality. Still, if you want to win the title, you should probably be able to deal with this kind of situation.
    • - West Ham waited until half-time to assess the Ashton injury and have decided he is OK to continue. Hard lines Carlton Cole...
    • 45' Blimey! What a half. United 3-1 in front but are down to 10. Back in 15...
    • 45+2' Parker brings down Tevez and that gives the home side a chance to see things through to the break.
    • 45' West Ham free-kick 35 yards out. Ashton and Zamora over it. Ashton's shot is powerfully struck but hits the wall.
    • 45' Dean Ashton is going to come off having tweaked his groin. Carlton Cole will be on as soon as the kit man can get him a shirt.
    • 44' United are, quite sensibly, playing keep-ball here and just trying to take the sting out of this until half-time.
    • 42' Now Carlos Tevez is flying into challenges against his former colleagues and the referee has to tell him to cool it.
    • 40' Dreadful late tackle by McCartney on Ronaldo. Yellow card, and the Portuguese is in some discomfort. He is soon back in action, however.
    • 39' Manchester United are in a spot of bother here. From cruising at 3-0 they have lost one of their three goals and are down to 10 men.
    • 38' That was profoundly stupid by Nani. Clearly Neill was winding him up, but that is what Lucas Neill does. No need to react. Yellow card for the Aussie.
    • 37' NANI IS SENT OFF!!! He aims a little headbutt at Lucas Neill before going down clutching his own face. He can have no complaints. Idiot.
    • 36' Nani tries an overhead kick off his own but the only thing he is in any danger of making contact with is Hayden Mullins.
    • 34' The home side's defending is very sloppy at the moment. They appear to be reacting slowly and indecision reigns whenever the ball comes into their box. This match is not over yet.
    • 33' Ronaldo sprints down the left and appears to time his run perfectly. The linesman disagrees and the offside flag goes up.
    • 32' Now Boa Morte is limping. As always, he has a bit of a scowl on his face. Scholes trod on his foot and that could be a broken metatarsal. Or he could just be whining.
    • 30' Ashton requires a bit of treatment after that strike. It is quite possible that he tweaked something during the course of that acrobatic strike.
    • 29' Who said Dean Ashton was overrated? That has certainly taken the edge of the home fans' celebrations. Two fantastic goals within three minutes.
    • 28' GOAL!!! West Ham are back in it thanks to a quite brilliant overhead kick by Dean Ashton!! Brown's header loops in the air and Ashton gives Van der Sar no chance!
    • 27' Tevez showed commendable restraint not to celebrate too much after that blockbuster. It really was a spectacular strike against his old club.
    • 26' GOOAAALLL!!! CARLOS TEVEZ!!! What a goal!! He shimmies inside from the left and powers a swerving, dipping 30-yarder past the helpless Green! Even the West Ham fans are applauding!
    • 25' That was a strange goal alright, but it came at the end of a mammoth spell of possession for the champions. It was like they were Barcelona to West Ham's, er, Manchester United.
    • 24' GOAL!! IT'S TWO, AND IT'S RONALDO AGAIN!! Tomkins, Pantsil and Neill all miss Hargreaves's cross and it just bounces in off Ronaldo from a couple of yards!
    • 21' Ashton is caught offside. He has been linked with a move to Old Trafford this week, which seems surprising. Everyone seems to love him, but what exactly has he done? He is one of those players whose reputation seems to be enhanced only when he is injured. A good opportunity to prove himself today, though.
    • 20' Dean Ashton tries an ambitious volley from 25-yards and the ball soars high into the stands, possibly dislodging some pigeons from the roof.
    • 19' Tevez has some space in the right channel and beats his man before shooting.. it beats Green but not the man on the line!! In fact it is going wide anyway.
    • 18' Nani delivers a high corner from the United left that is easily headed clear. Now Scholes is penalised for leaving a foot in. It's all a big niggly.
    • 17' Perhaps sensing the home fans' dissatisfaction, referee Riley decides to play the leveller by penalising Zamora for some kind of foul on Wes Brown.
    • 16' Ronaldo is hacked at the edge of the box by Parker - no free-kick. Just amazing. Only it has been happening all season.
    • 15' Park makes a penetrating run down the left but is dispossessed by Pantsil in an ungainly tangle of legs.
    • 14' Well, if there's an argument against diving, it is that once you get a reputation you can have your legs sawn off at the knees and you still won't get a free-kick. Unless you're Steven Gerrard, obviously.
    • 13' A poor clearance gives Nani the ball and he drives into the final third. Surely brought down but referee Riley says no foul!!
    • 11' Unconvincing defending from United (sorry West Ham fans - Manchester United will be called United today. No bias - it's just shorter), who play a litttle head tennis in their own box before Van der Sar eventually claims it.
    • 9' Hargreaves sends in a low, dangerous cross from the right and then delivers another ball towards Tevez that Tomkins does well to head clear. A dangerous supply line for United.
    • 8' Paul Scholes is lucky not to see yellow for a shoulder barge in the centre circle. Typical Scholes challenge. Good at 25-yarders, terrible at winning the ball.
    • 7' OFF THE LINE!! Van der Sar fumbles a high ball and Evra hacks the ball clear. The big Dutchman's form has dipped alarmingly of late, and there's more evidence of it there.
    • 6' A decent response from the Hammers, who work the ball down the right, forcing Brown to concede a throw as Parker advances.
    • 4' That was poor from West Ham, in particular Neill, who lost his footing, and McCartney, who backed off. Tomkins' touch was telling but the blame lies with his more experienced team-mates.
    • 3' GOAL!!!! CRISTIANO RONALDO!!! He cuts inside from the right, leaving Neill on his backside, West Ham back off and his low shot goes in the near post via a deflection off James Tomkins. That's 29 league goals.
    • 3' Nani dances around in the right corner like a budget Ronaldo before the ball is worked in towards Park. He falls over, but there is only a slight and very optimistic penalty appeal from behind the goal.
    • 2' There has been a lot of chat about whether West Ham will be motivated for this one, but come on - it's Manchester United away. Of course they'll try. And they have those top-ten finish bonuses to play for.
    • 1' West Ham have won their last three against Manchester United. Another victory today would almost certainly hand the title to Chelsea. Here we go..
    • - There is no Rooney or Vidic for United, who have Carlos Tevez leading the line against his former club. Owen Hargreaves continues in his ersatz (always nice to use a German word with Der Harg) right-back role.
    • - It's squeaky lunchtime in the Premier League title race! For the second week running, Manchester United kick off early on a Saturday. They need two wins to clinch the title, but face bogey-team West Ham.

  • Team Stats

    Manchester United Stats West Ham
    49% Possession 50%
    8 Shots 10
    4 Shots on target 4
    2 Saves 0
    4 Corners 2
    15 Fouls 16
    1 Offsides 2
    1 Yellow cards 2
    1 Red cards 0
    23 Tackles 21
    370 Accurate passes 378
    61 Bad passes 31

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 4 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 0 0
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 22 10 2
      6 Wes Brown 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 45 6 6
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 23 8 0
      16 Michael Carrick 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 48 5 1
      18 Paul Scholes 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 47 8 2
      13 Ji-sung Park 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 18 3 4
      4 Owen Hargreaves 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 31 2 2
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 10 1 0
      32 Carlos Tevez 1 2 1 4 1 0 0 27 7 3
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 2 1
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 9 5 0
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Darren Fletcher 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 8 0 2
    • West Ham
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Robert Green 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0
      30 James Tomkins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 0 3
      3 George McCartney 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 28 12 1
      2 Lucas Neill 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 34 0 1
      14 John Paintsil 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 48 0 7
      8 Scott Parker 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 65 3 3
      17 Hayden Mullins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 0 2
      16 Mark Noble 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 52 4 1
      9 Dean Ashton 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 16 3 0
      25 Bobby Zamora 0 2 2 5 4 1 0 37 4 0
      34 Luis Boa Morte 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 7 2 3
      23 Jimmy Walker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Nolberto Solano 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 12 1 0
      12 Carlton Cole 0 2 1 4 0 0 0 6 0 0
      40 Freddie Sears 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0
      39 Jack Collison 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 78' Zamora hits a clean shot from 25 yards but it flashes straight into the midriff of Van der Sar.
    • 71' Fletcher off the post!! United have men over on the break and Giggs unselfishly finds the Scot unmarked on the right. But his sidefooted effort clangs back off the base of the left-hand upright!
    • 59' GOAL!! Michael Carrick makes it 4-1 with a deflected 25-yarder!! He picks the ball up at halfway and nobody closes him down until Neill, who inadvertently redirects the ball past Robert Green!
    • 37' NANI IS SENT OFF!!! He aims a little headbutt at Lucas Neill before going down clutching his own face. He can have no complaints. Idiot.
    • 28' GOAL!!! West Ham are back in it thanks to a quite brilliant overhead kick by Dean Ashton!! Brown's header loops in the air and Ashton gives Van der Sar no chance!
    • 26' GOOAAALLL!!! CARLOS TEVEZ!!! What a goal!! He shimmies inside from the left and powers a swerving, dipping 30-yarder past the helpless Green! Even the West Ham fans are applauding!
    • 24' GOAL!! IT'S TWO, AND IT'S RONALDO AGAIN!! Tomkins, Pantsil and Neill all miss Hargreaves's cross and it just bounces in off Ronaldo from a couple of yards!
    • 19' Tevez has some space in the right channel and beats his man before shooting.. it beats Green but not the man on the line!! In fact it is going wide anyway.
    • 7' OFF THE LINE!! Van der Sar fumbles a high ball and Evra hacks the ball clear. The big Dutchman's form has dipped alarmingly of late, and there's more evidence of it there.
    • 3' GOAL!!!! CRISTIANO RONALDO!!! He cuts inside from the right, leaving Neill on his backside, West Ham back off and his low shot goes in the near post via a deflection off James Tomkins. That's 29 league goals.
    • - It's squeaky lunchtime in the Premier League title race! For the second week running, Manchester United kick off early on a Saturday. They need two wins to clinch the title, but face bogey-team West Ham.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mike Riley

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Rio Ferdinand

    On the Field

    • van der Sar
    • Hargreaves
    • Brown
    • Ferdinand
    • Evra
    • Nani Red Card
    • Scholes Substitution Out (73′)
    • Carrick Goal
    • Park Substitution Out (62′)
    • Ronaldo Goals×2 Yellow Card Substitution Out (64′)
    • Tevez Goal

    Subs

    • O'Shea Substitution In73′
    • Giggs Substitution In62′
    • Kuszczak
    • Fletcher Substitution In64′
    • Anderson

    Injured

    • Saha
    • Vidic

    Suspended

    None

  • West Ham

    Manager: Alan Curbishley

    Captain: Lucas Neill

    On the Field

    • Green
    • Pantsil
    • Tomkins
    • Neill
    • McCartney Yellow Card
    • Noble
    • Mullins Substitution Out (75′)
    • Parker
    • Boa Morte Substitution Out (52′)
    • Ashton Goal Substitution Out (57′)
    • Zamora Yellow Card

    Subs

    • Solano Substitution In52′
    • Walker
    • Cole Substitution In57′
    • Collison
    • Sears Substitution In75′

    Injured

    • Ljungberg
    • Bowyer
    • Etherington
    • Dyer
    • Bellamy
    • Gabbidon
    • Collins
    • Ferdinand
    • Spector

    Suspended

    None