Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the goals as Manchester United made it six straight Premier League wins with a 2-0 victory against 10-man West Ham United at the London Stadium on Monday night.
Sofiane Feghouli was controversially sent from the field in the 15th minute and Man United ultimately made their one-man advantage count as second-half goals from Mata and Ibrahimovic moved the in-form Red Devils to within one point of fourth-placed Arsenal in the table.
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic made three changes to the team that lost at Leicester City last time out, with Pedro Obiang, Manuel Lanzini and Feghouli taking the places of Andy Carroll, Mark Noble and Andre Ayew.
Man United's XI, meanwhile, showed five changes from the side that overcame Middlesbrough as Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Michael Carrick and Jesse Lingard returned, with Anthony Martial among those dropping to the bench.
The first half-chance of the match came to West Ham in the fifth minute when Dimitri Payet found a yard of space outside the Man United box, but the Frenchman's effort was always wide of David de Gea's post.
Payet then turned provider in the 10th minute as he found Lanzini in a dangerous position and the attacker looked to pick out the bottom corner with a low strike, but De Gea was on hand to make a really smart save.
The game took a big turn in the 15th minute of action when West Ham were reduced to 10 men after Feghouli made a late challenge on Jones, although it did seem a very harsh call from Mike Dean, who was quick to produce the red card in a decision that incensed the home supporters and Hammers boss Bilic.
As expected, the away side took control of the possession in the period that followed, but chances were extremely few and far between as West Ham sat deep and contained a narrow and fairly lacklustre Man United attack, which looked short of ideas.
The visitors should have taken the lead 10 minutes before the interval when Valencia found himself unmarked inside the West Ham box after a Mkhitaryan cross had reached the right-back, but Darren Randolph made a reaction save to keep it out and Lingard somehow hit the post from the rebound.
West Ham, for all their struggles, actually almost went ahead late in the first period when Lanzini bent an effort towards the top corner, but De Gea was on hand to make an outstanding save as it remained goalless at the break.
Mata was introduced for Darmian at the interval as Jose Mourinho moved Carrick into central defence and there was a greater intensity about the away side in the early stages of the second period, with Lingard curling one over the crossbar after West Ham failed to clear their lines.
West Ham were next to come close when Michail Antonio met a dangerous Payet free kick, but the Englishman's header was wide of the post as the Hammers passed up an excellent chance to make the breakthrough.
Marcus Rashford for Lingard was Man United's second change of the match in the 58th minute, but it was West Ham that should have scored two minutes later - Antonio going through on goal and being denied by another De Gea save.
Instead, it was Man United that made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute when Rashford breezed past Havard Nordtveit in a wide position before stopping and delivering into Mata, who swept the ball into the far corner with a super finish as West Ham were made to regret missed opportunities.
Pogba's low effort in the 68th minute just missed the post as Man United looked for a second goal and West Ham's response was to introduce Carroll, who immediately got into the thick of the action as the Hammers looked long into their powerful centre-forward.
Pogba had another excellent chance 15 minutes from time after more good work from Rashford, but the midfielder's low effort just bounced wide of the far post, before Randolph just about managed to keep out a strike from Rashford with help from the post.
Man United had their second in the 78th minute, however, when Ibrahimovic smashed the ball home from inside the box after Obiang had been caught out by Herrera on the edge of the box. Replays though showed that the Swede was offside in another decision that went against the home side.
Randolph made a super save to prevent Herrera from making it 3-0 five minutes from time, but it mattered little in terms of the final result as Man United secured yet another three points to close the gap on the Champions League positions.
Next up for West Ham is a FA Cup third-round tie at home to Manchester City on Friday night, while Man United will take on Championship side Reading in the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Law
