West Ham made it a memorable night in snowy East London when they thumped the current Carling Cup holders, Manchester United, 4-0 at Upton Park. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson again gave youth its chance but this time it backfired as the Hammers eased into the semi-finals of the Carling Cup in the most emphatic style.
This was United's first defeat of the season and prevented them from a possible third consecutive appearance in the final, but a brace from Carlton Cole and Jonathan Spector ensured the hosts were worthy winners.
West Ham were two goals ahead at the break thanks to former Red Devil Spector, as the visitor's looked anything but impressive.
Little changed in the second half from United's point of view as another two goals were conceded, this time to Cole.
West Ham can now look forward to a semi-final appearance in this competition for the first time in 20 years.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Venue: Upton Park Attendance: 33,551
West Ham scorers: Spector 22, 37, Cole 56, 66 Man Utd scorers:
WEST HAM 01 Green 03 Ben-Haim 05 Tomkins (Reid (74yellow card) 15 Upson 18 Spector 20 Faubert 12 Barrera (Hines 76) 13 Boa Morte 14 Kovac 09 Cole (Stanislas 89) 33 Obinna
Substitutes 31 Boffin, 02 Reid, 08 Parker, 25 Stanislas, 17 McCarthy, 26 Hines, 30 Piquionne
MAN UTD 29 Kuszczak 12 Smalling 20 Fabio Da Silva (Rafael Da Silva 65) 22 O'Shea 23 Evans (Brown 72) 08 Anderson 11 Giggs 24 Fletcher 14 Hernandez 26 Obertan 33 Tiago Bebe (Macheda 46)
Substitutes 40 Amos, 06 Brown, 21 Rafael Da Silva, 13 Park Ji-Sung, 16 Carrick, 42 Eikrem, 27 Macheda
