An audacious 45-yard half-volley and a left-footed finish from Wayne Rooney were enough to earn the three points for Manchester United at West Ham United.
A total of nine England internationals were on display at Upton Park in Saturday's tea-time kick-off under the watchful eye of Three Lions manager Roy Hodgson.
West Ham 0-2 Man Utd
Barclays Premier League
Upton Park
Saturday
22 March 2014
Midfielder Michael Carrick had been drafted into the United back four to cover for injuries, and Hammers striker Andy Carroll must have fancied his chances of getting himself among the goals, but it was to be Rooney who stole the headlines.
Wearing the captain's armband, Rooney fired after only seven minutes, hitting an outrageous half-volley from just inside the Hammers half that sailed over the head of goalkeeper Adrian before bouncing up into the roof of the net.
It was a strike reminiscent of that famous David Beckham goal all those years ago, and it just so happened the former England captain was in attendance.
Buoyed by their midweek comeback against Olympiakos in the Champions League, United continued to attack and it was not until 15 minutes had passed before Carroll had his first sniff of goal.
Stewart Downing, who has won 34 caps for England himself, whipped in a cross from the left flank but the big striker could only head it straight into the arms of goalkeeper David De Gea.
The hosts were struggling to breakthrough a resilient United, who had Phil Jones partnering Carrick at centre-half, and it would be the visitors who would strike again before the half was out.
Ashley Young floated in a cross from the right that fell to West Ham defender James Collins to clear, but his skewed clearance fell perfectly to Rooney to finish first-time left-footed from 10 yards to give his side a two-goal lead at the break.
Adrian looks back after being lobbed by Wayne Rooney
No doubt after some choice words from their manager Sam Allardyce, the hosts started the second half on top as they looked to up the pressure on United, who seemed content to try and soak up the attack and hit on the counter.
They huffed and puffed, but could not find a way through and it was not long before reinforcements were called from the bench as fellow England internationals Matt Jarvis and Carlton Cole were thrown into the fray.
United responded by making a change of their own on 67 minutes, the goalscorer Rooney replaced by Javier Hernandez and Three Lions striker Danny Welbeck replacing Juan Mata.
Neither could change could produce any further goals though as it remained 2-0 giving nonetheless a useful win for David Moyes's side.
