petrov determined to avoid re-run of final nightmares

... "ferguson also has a dilemma over who to play in goal, with ben foster, the hero of last season's penalty shootout win over tottenham, having impressed in the mid-week win over west ham after coming in for the rested edwin van der sar

vidic glad to be back

... but, while vidic put in what keeper ben foster claimed was a man-of-the-match performance for manchester united in a 3-0 win that allowed them to close on title favourites chelsea, ferdinand did no better than board the team bus ... in addition to foster's plaudits, ferguson hailed the serbian's performance against west ham's imposing strikeforce as "majestic" ... in addition to brown and evans, rafael should play having missed last year's final against tottenham through injury, while tomasz kuszczak may well get an opportunity in goal ahead of foster, the penalty shoot-out hero against spurs 12 months ago, who played for the first time in three months last night

wayne rooney scores two goals as manchester united beat west ham 3-0

... ferguson made five changes to the side beaten at everton, with goalkeeper ben foster handed a rare start and serbia defender nemanja vidic back from injury, and the alterations paid off as rooney gave united the lead in the 38th minute

wayne rooney is head and shoulders above all the rest

... robert green and ben foster, the west ham and united goalkeepers, looked like accidents waiting to happen, another headache for capello, who must surely know that if england come unstuck in south africa, it will most probably be as a result of defensive issues ... manchester united (4-4-2): b foster — g neville, w brown, n vidic, p evra — l a valencia, d gibson, p scholes, anderson (sub: park ji sung, 19min) — d berbatov (sub: m owen, 78), w rooney (sub: m b diouf, 78)

sir alex ferguson relying on ‘noisy neighbours’ to do united a favour

... ” van der sar is likely to be recalled in goal after ben foster endured a mixed return to the side in his first game since november ... as fabio capello prepares to name his squad on saturday night for the friendly with egypt a week today, the final opportunity for experimentation before he makes his world cup selections, neither robert green nor foster enhanced his claims ... it was this time last season that foster enjoyed his greatest moment for united

manchester united 3 west ham 0- heads again wayne at the double

... match facts manchester united (4-4-2): foster 5; neville 6, brown 6, vidic 6, evra 6; valencia 7, gibson 7, scholes 6, anderson 5 (park 19mins, 6); berbatov 7 (owen 78), rooney 8 (diouf 78) ... first, valon behrami shot across goal when well placed and in spacein the 20th minute and then, two minutes later, ben foster had toback-pedal to halt a dipping shot from alessandro diamanti that spunoff gary neville's heel and threatened to drop in to the goal

united keep pressure on chelsea

... ferguson made five changes to the side beaten at everton, with goalkeeper ben foster handed a rare start and serbia defender nemanja vidic back from injury, and the alterations paid off as rooney gave united the lead in the 38th minute

rampant rooney denies hammers

... alessandro diamanti was proving an effective screen in front and a charge down of a gary neville clearance fell for carlton cole to have the visitors' first effort of the night, although it never troubled ben foster, in for edwin van der sar in the champions' goal ... the hammers quickly broke on the counter and, after neat footwork from radoslav kovac, the ball found its way to valon behrami, who shot just wide across foster's goal ... gibson shot tamely into green's hands on 33 minutes before upson did likewise to foster barely 30 seconds later ... diamanti had foster sprawling to save as the match entered its closing stages before kieron dyer returned from injury to try and liven up the hammers attack ... manchester united: foster, neville, brown, vidic, evra, valencia, gibson, scholes, anderson (park 19), berbatov (owen 78), rooney (diouf 78)subs not used: kuszczak, rafael, evans, fletcher west ham united: green, faubert, tomkins, upson, spector, behrami (collison 63), noble, kovac, diamanti (dyer 75), franco (mido 46), colesubs not used: stech, daprela, da costa, ilan

united 3 west ham 0

... ben foster had not played for the seniors since the besiktas home defeat in late november, 20 games ago, when he paid the price for his shaky form ... a flashing shot from behrami and and diamabti that almost embarrassed foster as he needed two attempts to desperately keep the lob from crossing the line, suggested the hammers fancied their chances of adding to united's merseyside misery ... the reds finally found some rhythm and with foster watching, robert green had more opportunity to prove his credentials as one of england's world cup 'keepers in the summer

manchester united 3-0 west ham united - match report

... west ham came closest to scoring when alessandro diamanti's 25-yard shot in the 21st minute took a wicked deflection off gary neville's heel and was stopped on the line by united goalkeeper ben foster