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It’s not often we see world class goals at Upton Park and, when we do, they’re normally scored against us.

And Wayne Rooney’s goal for Manchester United yesterday was probably one of the best we’ve seen at home for a good few years, despite the feeling that James Tomkins had been fouled by the United striker just before he pulled the trigger.

Nevertheless, it was a goal worthy of winning any game of football and it’s hard to not admire the sheer class behind it.

Before the goal, we looked like we were heading toward a positive evening at Upton Park. Stewart Downing was causing Rafael all sorts of problems down the left and it felt as if it was only a matter of time before we were going to take the lead, especially with Andy Carroll coming up against a make shift defence that included Michael Carrick at centre-half.

United’s second goal came off the back of a penalty shout that, at the time, looked like it was a stone wall penalty. But on reflection, Nolan definitely went down too easily and the referee was right no to have pointed to the spot.

The result, on the whole, was a disappointing one. There were stages in the game when we were enjoying the better of possession and were capable of getting ourselves back in to the game.

But the standard of crossing was woeful on a number of occasions, which just isn’t good enough when you’ve got  a player of Andy Carroll’s ilk up front.

Did we deserve to lose? Yes, purely because we were just so ineffective in front of goal. Our end product must improve dramatically if we are to get the points we need to ensure Premier League survival. We are in danger of being sucked back in to the relegation fight if we don’t improve, and there isn’t a better time to bounce back with a win than when we host Hull on Wednesday night.

Here’s how West Ham fans reacted to Wayne Rooney’s wonder strike…