Manchester United Increase Lead In English Premier League - 04-04-11

April 4 - After beating West Ham United 4-2 on Saturday, Manchester United increased its lead in the English Premier League standings to 66 points, seven points clear of Arsenal in second place and 10 points clear of Manchester City in third place.

The match, for which the Red Devils travelled to face West Ham at Upton Park, was highlighted by a second half hat trick from Wayne Rooney, even if his exemplary performance was slightly marred when he swore at a camera during the live broadcast.

Despite Manchester's dominance from the outset, it was the home side that opened the scoring in the 11th minute courtesy of West Ham midfielder Mark Noble, who converted a penalty awarded as a result of a handball from Man Utd fullback Patrice Evra.

However, even with their new found confidence against the English Premier League leaders thanks to the goal, West Ham were immediately at the mercy of the visitors and were lucky when a valiant effort from United's Ryan Giggs to equalise was foiled.

But West Ham settled down and got their heads in the game, which paid off in the 24th minute, when a frustrated Nemanja Vidiæ conceded Manchester's second penalty of the match by fouling Carlton Cole. Noble also converted that one to make it 2-0.

Even though Man United looked close to scoring before the half time whistle, a score eluded them and they went into the change rooms 2-0 down to have a no doubt expletive-packed chat with gum toting manager Sir Alex Ferguson before the second half.

For much of the second half Manchester United made most of their plays, but failed to score. But that changed in the 64th minute, when the visitors were awarded a free kick, which Wayne Rooney dispatched into the back of West Ham's net to make it 2-1.

Then, Rooney scored his second goal of the game just nine minutes later, when a pass from teammate Antonio Valencia found him on the edge of the box, which he wasted little time in sending goalward beyond the reach of West Ham goalie Robert Green.

The striker completed his hat trick six minutes later when he capitalised off a rebound to send his third effort into the back of West Ham's goal. Sloppy defense from the home side allowed United forward Javier Hernández to make it 4-2 in the 84th minute.

Here are the complete English Premier League results from the weekend: