Rooney wondergoal inspires United to victory at West Ham

Manchester United kept alive their slim hopes of securing a top four finish with a comfortable 2-0 victory over West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday afternoon.

Wayne Rooney opened the scoring in superb fashion on just eight minutes, lobbing Hammers’ keeper Adrian from just inside the hosts’ half.

The England international doubled the Champions’ advantage on thirty-three minutes after Mark Noble failed his clearance.

Rooney is now third on the club’s list of all time goal-scorers with 212 – one ahead of Jack Rowley, twenty-five short of Denis Law and thirty-seven behind Sir Bobby Charlton.

The club remain in seventh place, but will move to within two points of fifth place Tottenham Hotspur if they beat Manchester City at Old Trafford tomorrow evening.

They then host Aston Villa in Saturday’s early kick-off in the Premier League, before welcoming holders Bayern Munich to Old Trafford in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final tie.

Meanwhile, Robin van Persie has been ruled out for up to six weeks, after being stretchered off late on in last Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Olympiakos.

The Dutch international, who scored a hat-trick in that game, is the clubs’ top scorer with seventeen in all competitions this season.