MANCHESTER UNITED 3 WEST HAM UNITED 1
Manchester United Welbeck 26', Januzaj 36', Young 72'
West Ham United C Cole 82'
Man of the match - Adnan Januzaj (Man United)
MANCHESTER // David Moyes, the Manchester United manager, said he will speak to Adnan Januzaj about his booking for diving during Saturday's 3-1 win over West Ham – but he refused to condemn the teenager because of the number of tackles he is having to withstand.
While the Scot has spoken out against diving in the past, and has already censured Ashley Young for it this season, he is equally concerned about the rough treatment being meted out to the 18-year-old Belgian.
“Adnan is expecting a challenge from [James] Collins,” said Moyes. “We’ll talk to him about it but you might be picking on the wrong person because if you look at the last two games, he has taken more tackles than any other player.
“I said last week there were a lot of people having a kick at him, because he’s very difficult to mark. The referees have to call it right and I just hope he doesn’t get a bad one before they do.”
Moyes was also concerned at a George McCartney challenge on substitute Javier Hernandez in the second half which probably warranted a straight red card rather than the yellow dished out by referee Mike Jones.
“I thought you’d have asked about that one before Januzaj,” said Moyes. “He [Jones] saw a bit of simulation in the other one but didn’t see that.”
Danny Welbeck and Januzaj made it 2-0 at half time, before Ashley Young netted a brilliant effort in the second period. Carlton Cole’s consolation did not threaten a fourth successive United win. West Ham remain outside the relegation zone, but could be in for a tough season.
“Our performance in the first half was not good enough,” said manager Sam Allardyce. “It’s a difficult task for us now and it will be a long haul in terms of digging ourselves out.”
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