Man Utd 1 West Ham 0

Man Utd, with an unfamiliar defence (Vidic, Pique, Rio & Evra), started poorly and West Ham created a few chances early on. In the first ten minutes the Hammers had four corners, Etherington fired over the bar and Ashton had a shot deflected wide.

After ten minutes Man Utd settled down and created chances of their own. Ronaldo shot a 30 yrd free kick into Hislop's hands and Fletcher shot just wide from six yards. Both sides had a number of chances to score after that. Harewood shot weakly from just outside the box which Van de Sar saved easily. Ashton headed wide from an Etherington cross. Pique had a 30 yrd shot that Hislop palmed over the bar. Vidic hit the post after latching onto a corner. Van Nistleroy slotted the ball home from an offside position. Ashton shot just wide from another left wing cross and Harewood shot straight at Van De Sar from just outside the box. In the last ten minutes of the half West Ham probably had the most possession but just before half-time Park beat Konchesky on Man Utd's right wing and cut the ball back for Van Nistelroy to score from a couple of yards.

With Etherington having had a lot of joy down the left wing against the inexperienced Pique in the first half West Ham probably weren't too disheartened going in at the break. However Man Utd started the second half the stronger. Rooney shot wide from a freekick. Ruud had a shot from just outside the box saved by Hislop. Ronaldo had a shot deflected into Hislop's hands. Rooney hit the bar and Van Nistelroy shot the rebound at Hislop. West Ham faced one way traffic but defended well and as the game progressed, and the Reds failed to score, the hope grew that the Hammers might be able to sneak a late goal. It wasn't to be, but West Ham can take heart from their defensive display tonight.