West Ham 4 Man Utd 0

West Ham started with a central midfield of Spector and Kovac. Faubert and Ben-Haim were named full-backs and Cole and Obinna started up front.

Spector as a replacement for Parker in midfield was a revelation. In the 16th minute Spector picked up the ball on the halfway line, drove forward and passed the ball to Obinna on the edge of the area. Obinnna fired the ball home left-footed.

At first the goal was given but the linesman pulled it back as he had spotted a deflection off an offside Spector. Six minutes later however and West Ham took the lead for real. Obinna chipped a ball into the area and Spector headed home from 10 yards.

In the 37th minute Spector got his second. Again he drove forward from the halfway line and passed the ball into the area. Obinna was just beaten to the ball by the defence but the ball fell to Spector who shot home from 8 yards.

West Ham really dominated the half and Man Utd's first half performance was probably best epitomised by an O'Shea shot from 30 yards that went into touch on the far side of the pitch some way behind the position the defender had shot from.


Spector had a quieter second half but Cole stepped up to the plate and Obinna carried on being exceptional. In the 56th minute Obinna crossed the ball in from the left and Cole scored from 5 yards with a diving header.

The two combined again in the 67th minute when Cole used his strength to turn Evans and shoot home from 8 yards after some more good work from Obinna on the left wing.

Man Utd might have had a little more of the ball in the second half but they rarely troubled Green in goal. Probably their best chance was gifted to them by Green when he kicked the ball against Macheda but Green recovered in time throwing himself in front of the ball to clear.


All in all this was a great all round team performance but Spector, Obinna, Cole and Boa Morte all stood out this evening. West Ham also had the added bonus of being able to give Hines a 20 minute run out as well. This has to be have been one of the best evenings at the Boleyn for quite a while.

I suspect I wasn't the only West Ham fan to look at a central midfield of Spector and Kovac before the match and fear that we might have been on for a bit of a hiding. I never dreamed that it would be Man Utd who would end up being thrashed.

"Kovac and Spector, I apologise sirs, for ever having doubted you."