Ten-man United triumph to close on EPL title

(CNN) -- Manchester United took a massive step towards retaining the English Premier League title, crushing West Ham 4-1 on Saturday despite having Nani sent off in the first half.

United moved three points clear of second-placed Chelsea with one game to play -- away to lowly Wigan -- and a vastly superior goal difference of 19.

Chelsea play their penultimate game at Newcastle on Monday, then host relegation-threatened Bolton next weekend before facing United in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.

Nani, who helped United defeat Barcelona in the semifinals of Europe's premier club tournament, was dismissed for a headbutt on Lucas Neill with United already 3-1 ahead at Old Trafford.

England's player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo had ended his four-game drought with two goals in the first 25 minutes, taking his tally to the season to 40 in all competitions, then former West Ham hero Carlos Tevez made it 3-0 with a superb long-range effort.

Dean Ashton pulled one back for the visitors with a spectacular overhead kick before Nani went in a moment of madness, but Michael Carrick scored against his former club to all-but seal victory with half an hour still to play.

All the talk before the match revolved around comments by West Ham manager Alan Curbishley, who said in a newspaper column that he believed Manchester United deserved to win the title.

That drew a furious response from Chelsea boss Avram Grant, who said Curbishley was "wrong" to make such a remark ahead of the game.

But any suggestions that mid-table West Ham -- who won 1-0 at Old Trafford in the final game of last season to avoid relegation, thanks to a Tevez goal -- would lie down for the home side were quickly dispelled.

Curbishley's side were soon on the offensive with Ashton to the fore, but then Ronaldo settled his team's nerves in just the third minute when he took advantage of a slip by Neill to unleash a shot which flicked off George McCartney and past goalkeeper Robert Green.

United boss Alex Ferguson decided against risking Wayne Rooney in his match-day squad, but Ronaldo made up for the continued absence of the injured England forward when he bundled in a cross by Owen Hargreaves with his thigh on 24 minutes to double the lead.

United had earlier escaped when Patrice Evra cleared James Tomkins' looping header off the line, but took complete control in the 26th minute through Tevez.

The Argentina striker took Ronaldo's short pass just inside the visitors' half and advanced unopposed before lashing a 30-yard shot over Green and into the roof of the net.

Injury-plagued England international Ashton, who has been linked with a summer move to Old Trafford, scored just minutes later with a superb scissors kick after Wes Brown failed to clear Bobby Zamora's cross.

And West Ham were given a great chance to get back into the match when Nani was given a straight red card in the 37th minute for his clash with Australia international Neill, who was also booked for his part in the altercation.

However, the Hammers lost much of their attacking impetus when Ashton was hampered by a groin problem, with the burly forward eventually replaced by Carlton Cole after the break.

Carrick ended any chance of an upset result when he fired his second goal this season on 59 minutes, having been given too much room by the retreating defense before his shot deflected past Green off the unlucky Neill.

That killed West Ham, and gave Ferguson the chance to rest Ronaldo and Park Ji-Sung -- with Ryan Giggs replacing the latter to close to within one of Sir Bobby Charlton's revised appearance record of 758.

Ronaldo's replacement, Darren Fletcher, struck a post as the game drifted to an end.

The result left veteran manager Ferguson in sight of a 10th league title, which will be clinched if Chelsea fail to take at least a point at St James' Park.

"It's been a great day for us and we've got a big chance," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "Our players have been absolutely fantastic this season.

"We were down to 10 men today and I said to try to run the clock down, keep possession and be patient in the second half, and I'm very pleased because there was a bit of tiredness.

"Cristiano has had a fantastic season and he develops all the time. There was a terrible tackle on him today but he keeps getting up and playing with courage and you've got to applaud that."

The Scot said he had no complaints about Nani's sending-off, and vowed to "deal with it." E-mail to a friend

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