Manchester United's hopes of a third League Cup title in a row were ended on Tuesday when it was thrashed 4-0 by a rampant West Ham in a surprisingly one-sided quarterfinal at Upton Park. United States defender Jonathan Spector and England striker Carlton Cole both scored twice for the Hammers,who inflicted a first defeat of the season in all competitions on their Premier League rivals a four-time winner of England's second-tier cup competition and the current league leaders. In the night's other match,Arsenal easily saw off Wigan 2-0 thanks to Antolin Alcarazs own goal and a close-range strike by Nicklas Bendtner. The other two quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday,with Birmingham hosting fierce local rival Aston Villa and Ipswich the only non-Premier League team left in the competition at home to West Bromwich Albion. West Ham is bottom of the Premier League but earned a morale-boosting 3-1 win over Wigan on Saturday and would have fancied its chances when it saw the teamsheets,with United making 10 changes to a starting side that routed Blackburn 7-1 at the weekend. What the Hammers would not have counted on was two goals from Spector,a former United player who hadn't previously scored in six years in English football.
