Gary O’Neil insists positive Manchester United changes made the difference against West Ham

EPL: David Bentley – Gary O’Neil, Middlesbrough – Tottenham Hotspur (PA)

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West Ham midfielder Gary O’Neil insists Manchester United’s attacking changes proved the difference against his side on Saturday.

The Hammers had a two-goal advantage at the interval but Sir Alex Ferguson’s side got back in the driver’s seat and netted four goals, three of which were courtesy of striker Wayne Rooney.

Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov were both brought on shortly after the restart and help boost United’s attacking threat. O’Neil believes the changes made by the visitors were crucial but insisted his side could have secured the victory if Nermanja Vidic had been sent off.

Responding to whether he thought Avram Grant’s men could have secured a draw after Vidic’s dismissal, O’Neil said: “Yeah, I would’ve thought so. It makes it easier to hold on, obviously.

“But I think the main difference was the changes they made. They were positive changes.

“They didn’t cause us too many problems in behind, first half, but as soon as Javier
Hernandez came on and they brought Dimitar Berbatov on as well, it made a massive difference.”

“If we’d have done okay and lost one-nil, everyone would have just said, ‘That was Man United’.

“Because we were two-nil up, it makes it feel that little bit harder to take.”

West Ham slipped in 18th position and face a harsh relegation battle against Wolves, Villa and
Wigan who only have one or two points that separate them.

“But we’ve got some big games coming up.” O’Neil added.

“We’ll be ready for Bolton away next weekend and it’s a game we fancy getting something from.”