West Ham United 0-2 Man United FT

WEST HAM UNITED v MANCHESTER UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 22 MARCH 2014
KICK-OFF: 5.30PM
REFEREE: LEE MASON

FULL AUDIO COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV

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Final score - West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United

95: That's it. A thoroughly disappointing afternoon for all of a Claret and Blue persuasion. Rooney's first goal may have been controversial in its making, but it was some finish from the No10. He then got into the right place at the right time to convert Noble's clearance. As for the home side, a few blocked efforts aside, there was little to get excited about. Wednesday's visit of Hull is now a very big game. Thanks for joining us. We'll have exclusive reaction to come soon on all media platforms.

93: We are into the third of four added minutes and the home fans have largely left to beat the traffic. The Manchester United fans are enjoying themselves. All of a sudden, things are looking up for the Red Devils. West Ham really need to re-group ahead of the visit of Hull City on Wednesday. They will certainly need to show more energy and purpose against the Tigers.

90: Fellaini out-muscles Nocerino and then Collins and is into the box. Nocerino tracks him and challenges, fairly, as the Belgian prepares to shoot.

88: This has been disappointing. West Ham played as well as their opponents, if not better, until they went behind. Since then, I'm afraid they have not created too much. Barclays have voted Andy Carroll as their Man of the Match.

86: Tomkins is back on.

84: Carroll and Nocerino get in each other's way a little and Fellaini steps in. He then over-runs the ball and fouls Tomkins, who is down holding his knee. The West Ham physio runs on.

82: A lightning counter from the West Ham corner again but thankfully the Kagawa cross is too strong for Hernandez and West Ham escape a third goal conceded. Nocerino is going to be on soon, but he's going to have to produce more magic than the Great Soprendo if he is going to turn this one around. He replaces Taylor.

80: Patient build-up before Jarvis whips over a superb cross. Cole and Carroll are lurking but neither can get a touch. The ball is cleared behind for a corner. Today's attendance is 34,237.

77: Time is ebbing away. Demel heads behind for a corner. Before it is taken, Rooney is replaced by Hernandez and Mata is taken off and Danny Welbeck comes on. Their job is all but done. Manchester United face their cross-city rivals City in midweek, of course.

75: Hernandez is going to be on soon. Before that, Noble loses his man, then clips a cross to the far post. Carroll cannot win it. McCartney follows up and fouls Young. This is frustrating.

72: Here comes Carlton Cole. He replaces Nolan. Noble takes the armband. So, it will be 4-4-2 for the Hammers. The home side need to find some tempo and verve to their play.

71: There is still more than enough time for a late comeback, but it's all gone rather flat. The Manchester United fans are singing away to my left.

70: Will Nocerino be given some more pitch time? Or maybe we could go 4-4-2 with Carlton Cole up alongside Carroll?

68: The game is meandering a little at present, with the visitors happy to knock the ball around. West Ham may be tiring. Will we see more changes? Not before this Manchester United corner... The initial corner is cleared to Buttner. He takes a couple of touches and fancies a shot from 30 yards. He needn't have bothered. The ball flies high into the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand.

63: Kagawa sweeps the ball out wide right for Young, who takes a touch and whips in a cross for Fellaini at the far post. He is pressured by two defenders and cannot get his header on target. Goal kick.

61: Carrick is playing at centre-back and he has done very well. Carroll has won his fair share of headers, but they have so far not opened up a shooting chance for his team-mates or himself.

59: A throw from Demel to Taylor and the No14 is barged to the ground by the giant Fellaini. Free-kick to the right side of the penalty area. Downing and Noble stand over it. Noble clips it to the far post and Carrick glances it behind for yet another corner. It is cleared. Again.

58: Diame is replaced by Jarvis.

57: Rafael makes a clever inside run and cuts back for Mata, whose shot hits a defender's heel and spins behind. Collins heads out but it's not away. Kagawa crosses and the shot into the ground is headed behind by Collins. The second corner comes to nothing other than a goal kick.

56: West Ham have played the second half almost exclusively inside the Manchester United half, but as yet they have not tested De Gea. Carroll battles on the edge of the box, but cannot get his shot away.

55: Downing and Diame have swapped again. Jarvis is out warming up.

53: Downing is now playing on the right and Diame on the left. Tomkins and McCartney get themselves in a bit of a muddle and Young gets free. McCartney does well to get back and block the cross behind for a corner. Young takes and Rooney heads well wide.

50: Yet another Downing corner causes panic as the ball drops to Demel, but his shot is blocked and Moyes' men survive again. West Ham have had ten corners now to Manchester United's two.

49: Collins long for Carroll, who flicks on for Nolan, who wins a corner. West Ham need to strike now while they are on top. Downing takes and Fellaini volleys over his own crossbar under pressure from Collins.

48: Now West Ham have a corner as McCartney's cross is deflected behind. It's cleared but only as far as Noble. He finds Downing, whose shot hits a visiting defender and flies out for another corner. Downing takes and both Carroll and Collins win headers, but neither creates an opening.

47: Tomkins concedes a corner after Demel and Diame had not combined sufficiently wide on the left. The ball is worked to Young from the corner and he shoots, but Adrian is there to save.

Rooney leads the visitors out first for the second half. West Ham can get back in this. They have had enough of the ball in the attacking third, but just have not done enough with it. Put simply, Manchester United have been both more fortunate and more clinical. Anyway, it's only half-time...

Half-time score - West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United

47: Another chance for Rooney from another Manchester United free-kick. This time Kagawa crosses for Rooney to volley from 20 yards, but he slices his effort wildly. Fellaini is onside, but he cannot control the effort and the ball rolls away for a goal kick. The half-time whistle is blown. One could argue that both of Rooney's goals were freak efforts, but regardless of that, West Ham have a considerable mountain to climb after half-time. Will Big Sam change things up? He has options on the bench, for sure.

45: A chance for Rooney to complete a first-half hat-trick. Mata finds Kagawa on the left edge of the penalty area. He pulls the ball back for Rooney 20 yards out, but his first-time left-foot effort flies over the top. Two added minutes to be played.

39: Yet again West Ham look open on the counter following a catch from De Gea. Mata has the ball centrally and is fouled by Taylor, who is booked. Rooney gets a lot of dip on the free-kick, but not enough and the ball hits the pole holding up the net.

37: Fellaini pushes Carroll to the ground about five yards outside the Manchester United box. This is a shooting chance. West Ham need something on the scoreboard before the break. Carroll's shot hits the wall and spins wide. Demel crosses and the visitors scramble the ball behind for a corner. Nothing comes from the corner.

34: Collins is booked for protesting. He thought West Ham should have had a penalty when Nolan went down in the box from Diame's cross. Replays suggest it was not a foul.

33: GOAL! Amazing. West Ham concede another goal from their own attacking set piece. Young has the ball wide right and crosses low. Noble gets there first but his low clearance hits Rooney and nestles in the bottom corner.

32: Taylor intercepts and sends Downing away down the left. The winger does well to keep the ball in, then even better to win a corner off Rafael. Downing's kick falls to Collins, whose shot is blocked. Demel retrieves and finds Diame, but his cross is cleared.

30: Diame initially breaks forward well, but ignores Noble and Manchester United intercept and break. Rooney gets into space wide left and cuts the ball back from the byline to Mata. Demel races back and initially gets a toe to the ball, but Mata retrieves and shoots. Adrian blocks and Demel heads away. Another heart-in-mouth moment for the Hammers. They cannot afford to go two down. The frustrating thing is, this match has been so even in general. The visitors have just shown greater quality in the final third.

27: West Ham getting up a head of steam here. Downing is heavily involved and it is his cross that Buttner heads behind for a corner. The flag-kick is cleared. Come on West Ham, get yourselves back on level terms.

26: Frustration for Diame as he initially does superbly inside the box, but cannot get the shot away. Next up, Carroll heads down for Nolan with his back to goal, but the skipper is crowded out.

25: Three times West Ham give the ball away, twice with passes and then when Noble is caught in possession. The third time nearly costs the Hammers as Mata releases Kagawa, but he shoots straight at Adrian when well-placed. Let-off.

21: Replays suggest Rooney may well have nudged Tomkins in the build-up to his goal. Anyway, that is academic now.

18: Manchester United are probably seeing less of the ball than their hosts, but they are a threat to spring out from the back on the counter at any time. Rooney wins a header above Collins, then collects the return and gallops into space. His cutback finds Fellaini, who feeds Fletcher. His cross is wayward and turns into a shot. Adrian has to show smart hands at the near post to keep the ball out and in his possession. He has to drop the ball and then collect it to avoid colliding with the post.

15: Another chance as Downing gets past Rafael to the byline and clips a cross to the far post. Carroll gets above two defenders and heads down, but it's straight at De Gea. The Spaniard collects.

14: It's early, but Rafael needs to be careful. He barges Carroll to the floor. Noble lifts the free-kick in from a central position and Carroll wins the header with his back to goal, but can only glance narrowly wide.

13: Mata collects a header from Fellaini and tries to pick out the run of Kagawa. The ball is just too strong for the Japanese and Adrian is able to collect on the bounce. Manchester United threatening.

11: Downing runs at Rafael and wins a free-kick. Rafael is booked. Free-kick 35 yards out to the left. This game has been relentless so far. Noble clips the ball in and Nolan is penalised for a foul inside the box.

10: West Ham have responded fairly well to falling behind. Diame drives a low shot wide before Downing wins a corner. It is cleared as far as Demel on the edge of the box. His low shot is on target but blocked on the edge of the six-yard box.

8: Taylor tries to get West Ham back on level terms quickly but his long-range effort is not as accurate as Rooney's. Goal kick.

7: GOAL! RIDICULOUS GOAL BY ROONEY! Tomkins makes the cardinal error of letting the ball bounce on halfway. Rooney takes advantage by lashing a 45-yard volley that dips and bounces into the roof of the net with Adrian nowhere.

6: West Ham win a couple of corners in quick succession but neither come to a chance on goal.

5: Another nervy moment as Tomkins loses possession. Rooney finds Mata, who shoots low but straight at Adrian. He holds on at the near post.

3: Young gets forward down the right. McCartney tracks him but concedes a corner. Mata and Young work it and when the initial corner is cleared back to Young, his cross is headed powerfully down by Fellaini. Carroll is there to block and clear from inside the six-yard box. The follow-up effort is blocked and West Ham clear.

1: Good steady start from the hosts, who have already seen virtually every outfield player touch the ball. The opening comes when Taylor runs into space and can find Demel in space on the right, but his pass is underhit and Buttner intercepts.

5.30pm - And we're off and running...

5.28pm - Manchester United will kick-off. The clouds are grey overhead and the rain is falling. The stage is set! Can the Hammers topple the champions!

5.25pm - Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few minutes but we've had some slight technical issues here in the Press Box! Anyway, 'Bubbles' has started to play and the teams will be with us very shortly. After a sunny afternoon, it is now raining here at the Boleyn Ground!

5.05pm - As so often happens, the visit of Manchester United brings out some of the biggest names in the game. England manager Roy Hodgson is here, as is former England captain and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham. 

4.35pm - Team news is in! West Ham make two changes to the side which lost 3-1 at Stoke last weekend, with Taylor and Collins returning in place of Nocerino and Reid. Manchester United have named only three natural defenders in their side, so presumably former Hammer Michael Carrick will play at centre-back alongside Phil Jones.

West Ham United: Adrian, McCartney, Nolan (c), Tomkins, Carroll, Taylor, Noble, Collins, Demel, Diame, Downing
Subs: Reid, Jarvis, Armero, Jaaskelainen, C.Cole, J.Cole, Nocerino

Manchester United: de Gea, Rafael, Jones, Mata, Rooney (c), Carrick, Young, Fletcher, Kagawa, Buttner, Fellaini
Subs: Evra, Lindegaard, Chicharito, Nani, Welbeck, Cleverley, Januzaj

Good afternoon and welcome to the Boleyn Ground for today's tea-time visit of Barclays Premier League champions Manchester United.

West Ham United will be aiming to end a run of two successive league defeats against the Red Devils, following losses to Everton and Stoke City, while the Red Devils will be bouyed by their midweek UEFA Champions League round of 16 victory over Olympiakos.

Sam Allardyce's side return to east London looking to earn a fourth straight home win after victories against Swansea City, Norwich City and Southampton in February, while David Moyes' Manchester United arrive at the Boleyn Ground having suffered a 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool in their last league outing.

The champions' hopes of finishing in the top-four seem all but finished as they lie 12 points behind fourth-placed Manchester City ahead of Saturday's match. A stuttering first season in charge has left Moyes' team in seventh place in the table, with 48 points from 29 games.

Team news-wise, the Hammers will be without Joey O'Brien (shoulder) and Marco Borriello (calf) for the visit of the champions, while Jack Collison (Wigan Athletic), Ravel Morrison, Modibo Maiga (both QPR), Paul McCallum (Heart of Midlothian) and George Moncur (Partick Thistle) are all out on loan.

Manchester United will be without Nemanja Vidic, who was red carded in the Red Devils' last Premier League outing at Liverpool and is suspended. Star striker Robin van Persie was stretchered off against Olympiacos on Wednesday night with a knee injury and will definitely miss the visit to the Hammers.

We will have the confirmed team news at around 4.30pm. In the meantime, please feel free to to enter our Twitter competitions #WHULINEUP and #WHUGOAL and you could win a piece of signed memorabilia.

Also, we have our first-ever Social Media Match versus Hull City on Wednesday night. To find out how to get involved, click here.

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