Rooney & Ronaldo run Riot

Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a neat finish to clinch the game for Manchester United, though it was teammate Wayne Rooney who was taking home all the plaudits for once - with a goal and two assists for the young Englishmen.

With perennial rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all winning and United sitting in eighth prior to the late kick-off, the home side were under a degree of pressure to get a win which would really kick-start their league campaign. They had an unusual look to their midfield with Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher in the centre, but this did not hamper Ronaldo, who provided a regular early outlet and looked his usual tricky self with the ball.

West Broms industrious five-man midfield formed a navy-and-white barrier with the Old Trafford crowd quiet but United had the ball in the net after 21 minutes. Ronaldo slipped a neat pass in for Rooney who muscled in front of a defender and delayed his shot before scooping the ball past Scott Carson. But referee Mark Halsey disallowed the effort from the England marksman, adjudging that Rooney, much to the Liverpudlian's annoyance, had pushed a Baggies man as he got to the ball.

Rooney and Ronaldo soon linked up to good effect but Paul Robinson stayed admirably close to the Portuguese winger in order to nullify his attempts to get a shot off on goal. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was forced into making a change after 35 minutes, bringing on John O'Shea for Patrice Evra - the Frenchman seemingly having picked up a knock.

The home side continued to press but lacked any real urgency around the box, with Berbatov particularly quiet. Rooney whipped over a dangerous corner after 40 minutes that Nemanja Vidic headed powerfully towards goal but the impressive Donk hacked away and both sides trudged down the tunnel without anything to show for their efforts. Berbatov sprang into a semblance of life just after the break as he crossed well but Rooney could not make a proper connection in order to test Carson.

But he made no mistake when the breakthrough finally came in the 10 minutes into the second half. Lurking on the left and with West Brom holding a high line, Rooney picked up a pass from Berbatov, cut into the box and inside Donk before firing a superb low shot inside Carson's near-post for his eighth goal in six games for club and country.

Rooney soon had Carson pushing the ball around his post from a through-ball by Giggs, and then stung Carson's hands with a powerful strike after persistent work from O'Shea.

And with West Brom offering very little, an inevitable second goal followed when Rooney turned provider for Ronaldo to finish easily through the legs of the over-worked Carson.

The visitors' discipline slipped further after 72 minutes when substitute Nani's cross was allowed to pass through the legs of Jonas Olsson. It ran through to Berbatov, who stuck out a leg and poked the ball high into the net from four yards almost with disdain for his first Premier League goal for the club.

Nani added a fourth with a simple finish after Rooney's slide-rule cross.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (Neville 65), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (O'Shea 36), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Giggs, Park (Nani 70), Berbatov, Rooney.

Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Brown, Evans, Gibson.
Goals: Rooney 56, Ronaldo 69, Berbatov 71, Nani 90.

West Brom: Carson, Zuiverloon, Donk, Olsson, Robinson, Morrison, Koren (Moore 72), Borja Valero, Greening, Brunt, Bednar (Miller 53).

Subs Not Used: Kiely, Hoefkens, Cech, Barnett, MacDonald.
Booked: Zuiverloon.

Att: 75,451
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).