Manchester United 4-0 Hull
Wayne Rooney scores four as Manchester United see off Hull 4-0
Saturday, 23, Jan 2010 06:05
By Richard James.
Manchester United moved to the top of the Premier League after Wayne Rooney helped himself to four goals in a hard-fought victory against Hull at Old Trafford.
The result will come as a welcome relief to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as the club continues to face growing uncertainty over its financial situation in a week that saw local rivals Manchester City gain the upper hand in their League Cup semi-final clash.
The Premiership champions appeared to heading for an easy victory against Phil Brown's men on Saturday afternoon after Rooney scored in only the eighth minute of the game.
The England striker swooped to slot the ball home after Hull keeper Boaz Myhill only managed to parry a Paul Scholes shot into his path following a corner.
Any hope United would then steamroll the team currently lying 18th in the league were quickly dispelled though as Hull fought valiantly through the remainder of the first half.
United for their part welcomed back Rio Ferdinand in defence for the first time in three months with Sir Alex choosing to start with Michael Owen up front and opting to leave Dimitar Berbatov on the bench.
The United manager was forced to rethink his team selection though with Hull very much in the game for the majority of the game and pushing United close on a number of occasions.
On 72 minutes Ferguson finally switched things around with Berbatov coming on for Owen and Darren Gibson replacing Scholes.
Hull though almost scored shortly afterwards with substitute Kamel Ghilas seeing his shot fly just past Edwin Van der Sar's post.
With just less than ten minutes to go though, United effectively secured the points, albeit in controversial circumstances. With Andy Dawson lying on the ground following a Nani free-kick, which was pushed onto the woodwork by Myhill, Rooney found space in the box to drive the ball home for his and United's second of the game.
The 24-year-old then secured his hat-trick four minutes later, heading home another Nani cross from close range.
He then wrapped things up deep into injury time with a low shot into the corner of the goal to complete his first ever four-goal haul.
The result means United leapfrog rivals Arsenal and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, both of whom are involved in FA Cup action this weekend.