Manchester United too strong for 10-man West Ham
Manchester United stretched its winning run in the Premier League to six matches after Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured a 2-0 victory at 10-man West Ham.
Spain international Mata struck midway through the second half at London Stadium to break the valiant resistance of Slaven Bilic's side, which played for 75 minutes a man down, before Ibrahimovic blasted in a controversial second in the closing stages.
West Ham, which had lost none of its previous four league meetings with United, was dealt a big blow on 15 minutes when Sofiane Feghouli, on his first start in England's top flight, was sent off for a late tackle on Phil Jones.
United struggled to carve out many meaningful chances despite its numerical advantage - although Darren Randolph made one stunning save to deny Antonio Valencia in the first half - and the Hammers spurned a great chance to take the lead when Michail Antonio shot straight at David de Gea when clean through one-on-one.
Mata steered in a fine finish only three minutes later to compound Antonio's frustrations before Ibrahimovic secured maximum points for United, back to within a point of fourth-place Arsenal, having played a game more.
An encouraging start from West Ham was brought to a halt on 15 minutes when Feghouli was shown a straight red card after crunching into Jones in a 50-50 challenge close to United's area.
Referee Mike Dean gave himself time to consider before brandishing a red card that incensed the home fans and Bilic on the touchline, although the way Feghouli jumped off the turf certainly made the challenge look careless.