Manchester United 3-0 West Ham: The Daily Mirror Match Report

Sir Alex Ferguson maintains he will rest Wayne Rooney at some point before the end of the season.

But with Rooney in such devastating form, his two goals last night taking his tally for the season to 27, how can Fergie leave out his main man?

With the World Cup looming, Fabio Capello is understandably concerned at England's star striker suffering burn-out before he has even got on the plane to South Africa, such is Manchester United's reliance on Rooney.

And when you consider that Rooney has started all of United's last 16 games, his only breather coming way back on December 8, Capello's fears would appear to be well-founded.

But on the evidence of last night, the burden of carrying United alone this season does not appear to be having an adverse effect on Rooney, as he maintained his extraordinary heroics.

Of Rooney's 27 goals this season, 23 have come in the Premier League, with 16 in his last 15 games.

Add the fact eight of his goals have come from his head this season - including six of his last seven - and Rooney is fast emerging as the complete striker. And he's still only 24.

At this rate, Rooney will come close to matching Cristiano Ronaldo's remarkable 42-goal haul of 2007-08, which many - Fergie included - claimed was unreachable.

According to Fergie, such is Rooney's natural desire and exuberance, he rarely needs a rest, and he will lead the United attack again in Sunday's Carling Cup final against Aston Villa.

The rest, if you can call it that, was all of 12 minutes as Rooney and strike partner Dimitar Berbatov made way for Michael Owen and Mame Biram Diouf after 78 minutes.

By that stage Rooney - with two headed goals from Antonio Valencia crosses - had single-handedly destroyed West Ham, to haul United within a point of leaders Chelsea.

Rooney could have had a hat-trick, leaving Robert Green stranded at the byline on the hour after chasing down a seemingly lost cause and beating the West Ham keeper to the ball.

And what a goal it would have been. With a swift turn from an outrageously acute angle, Rooney curled the ball towards the empty net, only for Julian Faubert to deny him.

United needed to win to exorcise the memory of last weekend's shock 3-1 defeat to Everton, which handed Chelsea a significant advantage in the title race.

Rio Ferdinand had been expected to start after completing a four-match ban, but a twinge, related to his ongoing back problem, meant United were unwilling to risk him.

That means England's newly-appointed captain will miss Sunday's final against Villa, as well as Wednesday's friendly against Egypt, both at Wembley.

United overcame the early loss of Anderson, who was forced off when he pulled up in the 16th minute, Fergie describing the midfielder's prognosis as "not good".

West Ham started brightly, Valon Behrami dragging a shot wide midway through the first-half, while Alessandro Diamanti almost caught out Ben Foster with an audacious lob.

But United soon assumed control and took the lead in the 38th minute, a powerful header from Rooney finishing off a breathtakingly quick move on the counter-attack.

Nemanja Vidic, playing his first game of 2010, surged forward from the back before feeding Ji-Sung Park, who in turn found Berbatov.

Berbatov picked out Valencia, whose cushioned, volleyed pass was met by Rooney, who made no mistake with his close-range header.

The goal drained the visitors of their early exuberance and gave United the encouragement to build on their lead, Rooney almost doing so with an impudent looping effort just before the break.

Spotting Green off his line, Rooney swivelled before scooping the ball high towards the West Ham goal, the execution only marginally out as his effort found the roof of the net.

United made an explosive start to the second-half, Park hitting the underside of the bar with a curling shot within 10 seconds of the restart.

But they only had to wait 10 minutes for the second goal, which effectively sealed the win and allowed Fergie's men to breathe a little easier with a two-goal cushion.

Berbatov turned exquisitely before applying a majestic pass into the path of Valencia, whose cross was dispatched by Rooney for his second header of the night.

Owen made an immediate impact after coming on for Rooney, exchanging passes with Paul Scholes before steering the ball past Green for his eighth United goal in 20 appearances.

It was Owen's first Premier League goal since his dramatic late winner in September's Manchester derby, and yet again Capello was not there to witness it.

Capello, in South Africa on a pre-World Cup trip, also missed Rooney's latest heroics but the England boss needs no further confirmation of his star player's qualities.

But a human-sized cotton wool ball to wrap Rooney up in until the end of the season would do for Capello right now.