Defending champions Manchester United lead West Ham United 3-1, but are down to 10 men as Nani is sent off, in an entertaining opening half in the Premiership game at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace to take his Premiership goals tally to 30, while Carlos Tevez came up with a stunning goal against his former employers to put Sir Alex Ferguson’s side firmly in control.

Dean Ashton brought back the visitors into the contest with an acrobatic effort before the Red Devils’ winger Nani was red-carded by Mike Riley.

The home side had a perfect start with Ronaldo opening the scoring in the 3rd minute to allay any nerves if there had been any as recent record had seen the Hammers beating the Red Devils for three league games on the trot.

The Portuguese winger’s low shot from the right side of the penalty area beat Robert Green owing to a deflection off George McCartney.

Patrice Evra made an important goalline clearance in the 7th minute after Bobby Zamora challenged Edwin Van der Sar in a goalmouth melee following a corner kick.

The Red Devils kept knocking on the door and important interventions from James Tomkins and Lucas Neill kept them at bay.

After persistent pressure from the home side, the Hammers conceded the second goal in the 24th minute with Ronaldo guiding the ball home off his thighs from a close range from the left side of the box off a cross from Owen Hargreaves from right side.

After a minute, Tevez made it 3-0 with a scorching long-range strike as he cut past couple of his former Hammers team-mates before lashing home from the left channel.

The Hammers cut the deficit in the 29th minute with Ashton scoring off a spectacular overhead kick getting the better of defender Rio Ferdinand after Wes Brown’s poor defensive header.

United were down to 10 men as Nani was shown the red card in the 38th minute for retaliating at Hammers’ skipper Neill, who was booked for his part in the clash, with a head-butt.