Rooney lifts mourning MU

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney takes a shy at the West Ham goal during their Premiership clash at Upton Park on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

Wayne Rooney fired Manchester United back to second place in the Premiership with a dazzling performance in his team's 2-1 win at West Ham on Sunday.

Victory capped an emotional week for United that saw the death of club legend George Best and fittingly it was Rooney, the current Red Devils' talisman, who sparked the visitors' comeback.

The England striker ensured that United shrugged off the shock of conceding a goal to Marlon Harewood inside the first minute by scoring the equaliser moments after the re-start.

Rooney then set up John O'Shea for the winner as United notched their third consecutive Premier-ship victory.

Sir Alex Ferguson's team remain 10 points adrift of the runaway league leaders Chelsea but belief seems to be flooding back into his charges after a difficult start to the season.

The antagonism between United and West Ham runs deep, dating back to the days when meetings between them were punctuated by ugly scenes of crowd violence.

But before kick-off, both sets of supporters were united in celebrating the memory of Best, the former United winger who died on Friday.

After words from two ex-England stars in West Ham hero Sir Trevor Brooking and United great Sir Bobby Charlton, a former team-mate of Best's, the crowd departed from tradition.

Instead of a minute's silence, fans marked Best's joyous contribution to football history with 60 seconds of raucous applause before United's followers loudly chanted the name of their most famous number seven.

But that was soon drowned out by the cheers of home supporters after just 52 seconds when West Ham stormed into a shock lead.

Harewood prodded a first-time shot past Edwin van der Sar at the near post, but it was Matthew Etherington who deserved the credit for his surging left-wing run and pin-point pass.

However, a shocked United rallied quickly.

Indeed, only two superb saves inside a minute from Roy Carroll, the Northern

Ireland goalkeeper who left Old Trafford in the close season, prevented his former team from levelling.

First, he sprawled to his left to deny Ruud van Nistelrooy after the Dutchman had collected Ji-Sung Park's pass.

Then, moments later, he tipped aside Paul Scholes's low drive.

Carroll did not stop there. After 21 minutes, he sprung to his right to block Rooney's bobbling shot and he denied him again four minutes before half-time.

But West Ham eventually cracked within two minutes of the second half.

The lively Park was again the provider, slipping a pass to the effervescent Rooney, who twisted past Anton Ferdinand, playing against brother Rio, and slammed his shot under Carroll.

West Ham were rocked, and moments later Rooney almost grabbed his second when he capped another thrilling burst into the area with a low drive that was well blocked.

The former Everton forward could have netted from the rebound, but he snatched at his shot and the danger was cleared.

However, West Ham were far from safe and in the 56th minute, Rooney swung over a corner and O'Shea beat Carroll to thump in an emphatic header.

From then on, United were in almost complete control. O'Shea almost grabbed a third but blazed wide from an acute angle, while Ruud van Nistelrooy's sublime 71st-minute chip, bounced off the crossbar.

Rooney should have confirmed Uniteds victory in the dying seconds, but he flicked wide after Gary Neville, fit again after injury, had picked him out at the near post.