Ashley Young scored his second goal in the space of a week to help Manchester United end their miserable run of defeats at Old Trafford and move up to seventh in the Premier League. Danny Welbeck had earlier opened the scoring with a low strike into the bottom corner before Adnan Januzaj powered in a close-ranged effort before Young's clincher. Substitute Carlton Cole pulled one back late on, though it was of scant consolation as United exercised control over their opponents with a dominant performance. United did all the early running, with Tom Cleverley seeing his sliding shot palmed out by Adrian after just three minutes before Rooney sent a free-kick from the edge of the area just over. But the home side would not have long to wait before taking the lead, Welbeck drilling in Rooney's assist on the left side of the box after 26 minutes to ease the nerves. The Red Devils had lost their previous two league games at the Theatre of Dreams and a defeat here would have represented their third home loss in a row for the first time since 1978-79. Yet that never looked likely as United went in at half-time with a healthy advantage following Januzaj's third goal in his debut season at the club. The youngster danced past a clumsy James Collins lunge before smashing in from the centre of the box ten minutes before the interval. The second half lacked the intensity of the first, with United happy to take their foot off the peddle and sit back on their lead, though the home side remained most likely to score. Jonny Evans headed Rooney's corner on target three minutes after the restart, his effort thwarted by Adrian, before substitute Hernandez was likewise denied by the offside flag as his 65th minute strike was correctly chalked out after being played through by Valencia. But a third goal did come, through substitute Young, who replaced the excellent Januzaj and made an almost instantaneous impact on the 72 minute mark. The seemingly-omnipresent Rooney teed up his teammate, who unleashed an unstoppable curler into the top corner to cap a good week, after also netting the winner against Stoke in the League Cup on Wednesday. From then on there was little doubt as to the outcome, though there remained time for West Ham's consolation deep into the second half. Cole took advantage of some slack defending from Alexander Buttner to calmly slide home with 10 minutes to go, though it was too little, too late as United closed the game out.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
