West Ham vs. Manchester United: Reaction from Sam Allardyce and David Moyes

Wayne Rooney scored the only two goals for Manchester United as the Red Devils defeated West Ham 0-2 on Saturday.

Without the injured Robin van Persie, United turned to club icon Rooney to provide goals, and the England international didn't disappoint with a brace in the first half, including a sensational strike from long range.

Rooney collected the ball and, seeing the gap between Hammers stopper Adrian and his goal line, sent the ball flying into the goal from near-midfield with a strike reminiscent of David Beckham's epic goal against Wimbledon.

KickTV's Jimmy Conrad was impressed, to say the least:

United took firm control of over this game, never allowing the hosts to get a foot in the door. Rooney's second iced the tie before the break, and the second half didn't offer the home fans anything to cheer for.

United have now won two games in a row, and coach David Moyes can breathe a little easier after a difficult run of games and this week's draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. As Nooruddean put it, this win was much needed:

Moyes was visibly happy with his team's performance, and said as much, per the Premier League's official Twitter account:

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce acknowledged United deserved the win:

Moyes again spoke on the great performance of his team and singled out Rooney's wonder goal that opened the scoring, via United's Twitter account:

The New Age's Neil Collins shares how the United boss experienced the goal:

Ashley Burton reports Allardyce saw the goal in a different light, claiming Rooney's strike shouldn't have counted:

However, the Hammers boss also praised the sheer brilliance of the strike, per The Huffington Post's Samuel Luckhurst:

Moyes meanwhile went out of his way to praise two of his midfielders in particular, namely Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa, via United's Twitter account:

With matches against rivals Manchester City and Bayern Munich coming up, the Red Devils needed a good performance to boost morale. In that regard, a wonder goal and an overall solid performance will do wonders for a team's confidence.

West Ham have now lost three games in a row and are sliding ever closer to the relegation zone. Fans aren't happy with the way Allardyce has been running this club this season, and this particular one voiced the opinion of many:

The Hammers will take on Hull City next week while United will host Manchester City, and while the Red Devils are well out of the EPL title chase, playing spoiler in their city rivals' bid would be a nice consolation price for fans.