Premier League: West Ham 2 Manchester United 4

Wayne Rooney scored a memorable hat-trick to help Manchester United record a 4-2 comeback victory over West Ham on Saturday.

Two penalties from Mark Noble in the first half put West Ham 2-0 up at half-time, but United refused to lie down and Rooney stole all the headlines with his second half hat-trick.

West Ham opened the scoring after Carlton Cole broke clear of the United defence and attempted to lift the ball over Patrice Evra but the French defender clearly handled the ball inside the box.

Referee Lee Mason pointed straight to the spot and Noble made no mistake sending Tomasz Kuszczak the wrong way from the penalty kick.

The hosts at Upton Park were awarded their second penalty of the game on 25 minutes when Nemanja Vidic was adjudged to have brought down Cole inside the area.

Noble kept his nerve and struck the penalty into the top right hand corner to make it a dream start for the home side.

Ferguson knew he needed to take drastic action and brought on Javier Hernandez at half-time to replace Patrice Evra.

Hernandez almost scored with his first touch when he volleyed a cross from Ryan Giggs just over the bar.

But United showed the true signs of champions when their amazing comeback started on 65 minutes when Rooney curled a free-kick past Green into the back of the net to start the revival.

The visitors were back on level terms just eight minutes later when Antonio Valencia played the ball into Rooney who combined a great first touch with a clinical finish past Robert Green.

Mason awarded the third spot kick of the game on 79 minutes after Fabio da Silva wove into the penalty area and struck the ball against West Ham captain Matthew Upson.

Rooney sent Green the wrong way from the penalty spot to celebrate his hat-trick and complete the comeback for the league leaders.

United sealed all three points on 84 minutes when Ryan Giggs’ cross into the box was tapped in by Hernandez at the far post.