The Reds were three up inside 26 minutes through Cristiano Ronaldo (two) and Carlos Tevez before Dean Ashton pulled a goal back shortly after.
United made things even more difficult for themselves when Nani was sent off after 37 minutes for head-butting Lucas Neill, but West Ham failed to mount any sort of comeback.
The Reds were comfortable after the break and even added a fourth thanks to Michael Carrick's deflected effort.
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Victory at Wigan next Sunday will confirm Sir Alex Ferguson’s men as champions but the coronation may come even earlier as Chelsea now need to get something - and almost certainly win - at Newcastle to fight on until the final day.
Within three minutes the Reds were ahead. The familiar frame of Ronaldo would have been capable of causing some damage anyway as he collected Nani’s flick.
But Neill’s ill-timed slip merely allowed the double Footballer of the Year to charge into the box and unleash a shot which flicked off George McCartney and flew in.
There was no sense of nerves around the ground but any remaining apprehension was dispelled as United assumed total control and 20 minutes later they had a second.
In amassing 40 goals this season, Ronaldo has scored some amazing efforts. His latest was not among them as Owen Hargreaves swung a left-footed cross to the far post which the entire Hammers defence failed to cut out.
It still needed scoring though and a quick swivel of the hips ensured the ball bounced past Robert Green.
Powerless
Ronaldo has not been overshadowed very often this season but Tevez did exactly that as he picked up his young team-mate’s lay-off, then blasted a 30-yard rocket into the roof of Green’s net, the West Ham goalkeeper powerless to resist.
On this ground last season, the Hammers fans hailed Tevez a hero and they still revere the Argentinian now for keeping them up.
Yet instead of applause, the visiting contingent could only wonder what fate lay ahead as their team threatened to be submerged, even against a side lacking Wayne Rooney, whose hip problem has been reported in some quarters as a far more worrying hernia complaint.
The Hammers need not have worried. For, after Ashton’s smart overhead kick completed a remarkable spell of three goals in six minutes, Nani lost his head.
Neill hardly reacted in the most calm manner after Nani had tried and failed to connect with an ambitious overhead kick but the Portugal winger had no excuse for responding the way he did by butting Neill and dismissal was automatic.
The red card threw unnecessary doubt over United’s charge towards the title, although they received assistance from West Ham’s woeful attempt to make the extra man count.
Carrick was offered more room to run into than he could believe before firing home his second goal of the campaign, with Neill again providing the accidental deflection.
The arrival of Ryan Giggs was significant in that it took the Welshman to within one game of equalling Sir Bobby Charlton’s revised appearance record of 758.
Ronaldo’s replacement, Darren Fletcher, struck a post with his precise shot, although by then it hardly mattered.
United thanked their supporters for a season of effort with a lap of the pitch at the end. In eight days’ time they could be celebrating for real.
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.
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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
Jemal (03/05/2008 at 15:08)
bung it in, outer space (03/05/2008 at 15:16)
Matt_SS (03/05/2008 at 15:19)
One more game and we should grab the PL silverware...
and Nani, What was that all about??? for the sake of the TEAM , Use your brains & keep your cool in such situations
Skilled Nani should learn a lot from his stupid ordeal today. He's lucky things went finally well today...OTHERWISE??!!
Sail on my beloved United!!
Jaco, South Africa (03/05/2008 at 15:21)
Fergie said before the game that he would play his strongest team... This means that he does not rate Anderson above Scholes or Carrick, which is surprising to me. Anderson has probably been one of our top 3 or 4 performers over the season. Scholes and Carrick has been disappointing most of the season. Fergie could at least have given Anderson 20 minutes or so at the end!
I'm hoping that Rooney and Vidic will be fit next week, and in that case, my preferred line-up would be:
VDS, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Anderson, Hargreaves, Park (in place of suspended Nani), Rooney and Tevez.
Red Indian Chief (03/05/2008 at 15:42)
i would've loved to be a fly on the wall in the dressing room at half-time when nani was receiving his hairdryer from saf. he knew it was coming, you could see the dread in his face as he walked to the tunnel. absolute stupidity and disgraceful. now he faces at least a 3-match suspension, and has really let the team down.
Ferguson's Alzhimers carer( Johnny.Smith) (03/05/2008 at 16:16)
AS, Ipswich (03/05/2008 at 16:25)
Red Devil's Advocate, Manchester, England (03/05/2008 at 16:41)
Re: Carrick and Scholes- they have been far from disappointing. Carrick has been the best of Man Utd's central midfielders this season, especially in 2008, while Scholes has also done well- if there is a criticism of him, it's that he's playing much deeper than in the past and can look wasted there. However, on Tuesday night, he looked more like the Scholes of old and one can only hope that he continues in this way. Still, these are the same 2 midfielders that did the job last season, and any team would love to have them in their starting eleven. Of all the permutations, they have the best understanding, so it makes sense that SAF would stick with them, especially when Hargreaves is currently employed in the RB position.
Ancient Fan, Parksville, BC, Canada (03/05/2008 at 16:41)
Nani's incident should help with his maturity in the future. We must hope that some good will come out of it. He does have a lot of growing up to do.
Hargreaves has contributed greatly in the last two games and deserves a pat on the back.
A great contribution from the attending fans, they sure know how to lift the game, let's hope that they get their rewards.
Red Dawn (03/05/2008 at 16:52)
I have my doubts he'll ever be a top player, but he is still young and dumb, so hopefully he'll learn as he gets older.
No run-out for Anderson today either which was strange. He isn't carrying an injury, but then again he hasn't played well for quite some time now, so the manager may think it's best to leave him out for awhile, as the season as a whole may be taking its tole on him. Then again, at his age that shouldn't be the case.
Red Devil's Advocate, Manchester, England (03/05/2008 at 17:08)
Pat (03/05/2008 at 17:32)
Gillian England (03/05/2008 at 17:45)
and well done United !!!
we are nearly there
YOU go for it next week guys !!
Jemal (03/05/2008 at 17:52)
Bigmouth strikes again, Manchester (03/05/2008 at 18:04)
manu xpert (03/05/2008 at 18:33)
tooth&claw, manchester (03/05/2008 at 18:43)
manu xpert (03/05/2008 at 18:44)
tooth&claw, manchester (03/05/2008 at 18:45)
Jemal (03/05/2008 at 19:15)
selecting benzema but the question is will he come over? personally, i think he wouidn't come because he wants to play in the spanish league in that case we are left with berbatov,Zalatan and huntler. i wouid pick zaltan because he is well suited to EPL and very good goal scorer.
Johnny The Truthful One Smith (03/05/2008 at 19:54)
daniel (03/05/2008 at 19:56)
What a great performance today by the team and two more cup finals now.
Melbourne Red, Ex Accrington (03/05/2008 at 22:10)
SAPPER, MANCHESTER (03/05/2008 at 23:11)
Don;t condem Nani yes he was stupid and fell into the trap set by Neil, but so did G Neville against City and Mcmanaman a few years ago.
Just need to go to Wigan who I now beleive to be safe so should be an easier game.
With regard to what we need I still think we need a Centre forward, will the guy, sorry forget his name, the is with the turkish side be available next season?
Crowd was good today as well kept the noise levels high.
Red Devil's Advocate, Manchester, England (03/05/2008 at 23:49)
Carrick can't tackle!? Before today's match, he had won 72/90= 80% of his tackles in the league- that's more than twice as many tackles as Essien, and a more successful rate than Mascherano (who has 76%, although he has made a lot more). Also, he had just 2 yellow cards to his name, which shows that he's very disciplined (VERY crucial quality to have, given that the old fashioned tackle is fast disappearing in the game), and conceded just 13 fouls. Also, on Tuesday night against Barcelona, he was second to Park in distance covered during the match, with 7.2 miles. When you consider that he is not strictly a holding player/water-carrier, but also a deep-lying playmaker, you soon realise how important he is to the team. One word you often hear when mentioning Carrick is 'understated', but his team-mates, fellow professionals and the top coaches know what he's about. He has a quiet personality, and it reflects in his style of play- but that's when he's at his deadliest. Scholes has won his fair share of tackles, too, however, he's known for the ones he loses/the ones which result in a foul- those can be pretty awful, to be fair. He's STILL the benchmark for most attack-minded midfielders in Europe.
Carrick and Scholes were good enough to win the title and reach the CL semi-finals last season, and if both feature, they'll be more than good enough to win the CL final this time around, too.