LONDON, (Reuters) – Two Wayne Rooney headers led  Manchester United to a 3-0 win over West Ham United at Old  Trafford yesterday, taking the champions within a point of  Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

Striker Rooney, who also scored two headers when his side  beat AC Milan in the Champions League last week, took his tally  for the season to 27 — with 19 of those goals coming in his  last 19 matches.

Substitute Michael Owen added the third in the 80th minute,  two minutes after replacing goal machine Rooney who executed  both headers with real power from crosses by Antonio Valencia  after 38 and 55 minutes.

Manchester United are second with 60 points from 28 matches,  one behind leaders Chelsea who have a game in hand.

The only blemish for United was revealed when manager Alex  Ferguson said afterwards that defender Rio Ferdinand, who missed  the game with a twinge in his back, was also out of Sunday’s  League Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley.

The centre back is also now a doubt for England’s friendly  against Egypt at the same stadium three days later.

“He felt a twinge in his back this morning… and we  couldn’t risk it,” Ferguson told Sky Sports. “He won’t be  playing on Sunday.”
Good attitude

Ferguson, though, was pleased with United’s win which ended  13th-placed West Ham’s recent revival. Gianfranco Zola’s men had  lost once in six matches but were always second best yesterday.

“It was a good attitude from the players, they were hungry  for the victory and did very well. West Ham have been doing very  well recently so it was a good result for us,” Ferguson added.

He reshuffled his side after Saturday’s 3-1 league defeat at  Everton, making five changes including bringing back defender  Nemanja Vidic and goalkeeper Ben Foster.

United gradually took control of the game and deservedly  went ahead seven minutes before halftime with a  brilliantly-executed goal, Valencia providing a cushioned volley  cross for Rooney to score.

The hosts went close again 20 seconds into the second half  when Park Ji-Sung smashed the ball against the bar.