The Red Devils are now two points off Chelsea who play their game-in-hand against Manchester City later tonight.
The Hammers started the match heartened by the sight of Darren Fletcher playing out-of-position at right-back, alongside a makeshift centre-back partnership featuring Gary Neville and Wes Brown.
West Ham also had injury problems to contend with, meaning that Carlton Cole and Matthew Upson sat out the game.
Ryan Giggs, a candidate for the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, was in the thick of the early action, conceding the ball near his own penalty box but getting a vital touch to clear the danger moments later.
Neville was angered to be substituted just after the half-hour mark, perhaps feeling that he could run off an injury on the pitch. His temper was not helped by the decision to bring on midfielder Michael Carrick in his place.
His strop was soon forgotten when Scholes scored just before half-time. The ginger midfielder said this week that he wished he could be playing more first-team games and he showed his continuing worth when he chested down a pass outside the penalty box and hit a half-volley which Robert Green arguably should have got more than a hand to.
The visitors doubled their lead in the second half when Darron Gibson shot from outside the 18-yard box - after a smart one-two involving Giggs and Wayne Rooney - to claim his third goal of the week.
A close-range goal finally arrived courtesy of Antonio Valencia with the same player crossing for Rooney to add the fourth a little later.
Junior Stanislas would have grabbed a consolation goal for West Ham, had he not shot wide.
At the Emirates Stadium a 2-0 win for Arsenal against Stoke City put Arsene Wenger in a hand-shaking mood.
Wenger chose to retain only three of the players he picked for the Carling Cup defeat against Manchester City, with Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri returning to the line-up and both having early chances as Arsenal began the match at a frantic pace.
Rory Delap checked the home side's progress with some finely-taken throw-ins but the Irish player is less convincing with the ball near his feet and he conceded a penalty after tripping Arshavin.
Gunners' skipper Cesc Fabregas took the penalty which was saved well by Sorensen, but the Spaniard made up for his mistake in open play in the 26th minute, exchanging passes with Arshavin before the Russian 'assassin' shot low into the corner of the goal.
A second goal nearly followed amid farcical scenes a dozen touches later when Traore's cross hit the post and Fabregas's volleyed follow-up hit team-mate Emmanuel Eboue.
The luckless Eboue hobbled off early in the second half, with Wenger hoping that the player won't be joining the likes of Robin van Persie, Gael Clichy and Kieron Gibbs on the long-term injury list.
Arshavin provided a distraction from the treatment-table woes when his deflected shot hit the bar, before substitute Aaron Ramsey's shot, hit with the outside of his boot from outside the penalty area, avoided the woodwork to put Arsenal two-up.
Stoke had no answer to Arsenal's passing prowess and were well-beaten by the time Wenger shook hands with Potters' manager Tony Pulis.
Birmingham City, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten league run to six games with a 3-2 win at Wigan.
The battling nature of the play soon claimed some casualties; Brum defender Roger Johnson had his nose bloodied after a clash with Hugo Rodallega and injury-prone Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was forced off with a back injury.
At the other end Birmingham keeper Hart was powerless to stop Charles N'Zogbia's curling shot from hitting his net in the 33rd minute, Rodellega claiming the vital assist.
Birmingham's equaliser came when no Wigan player took responsibility for Sebastian Larsson's free kick, the ball floating into the net even though it was more of a cross than a shot.
Lee Bowyer then boosted his popularity with Birmingham fans by supplying a long pass which led to his side taking the lead after Benitez skinned Titus Bramble for pace and shot past Mike Pollitt.
Birmingham's third resulted from another curling Larsson free kick, this one hit with more scoring intent than his previous effort, though Wigan clawed back a goal in the last minute through a Junior Gomez free-kick.
The Hammers started the match heartened by the sight of Darren Fletcher playing out-of-position at right-back, alongside a makeshift centre-back partnership featuring Gary Neville and Wes Brown.
West Ham also had injury problems to contend with, meaning that Carlton Cole and Matthew Upson sat out the game.
Ryan Giggs, a candidate for the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, was in the thick of the early action, conceding the ball near his own penalty box but getting a vital touch to clear the danger moments later.
Neville was angered to be substituted just after the half-hour mark, perhaps feeling that he could run off an injury on the pitch. His temper was not helped by the decision to bring on midfielder Michael Carrick in his place.
His strop was soon forgotten when Scholes scored just before half-time. The ginger midfielder said this week that he wished he could be playing more first-team games and he showed his continuing worth when he chested down a pass outside the penalty box and hit a half-volley which Robert Green arguably should have got more than a hand to.
The visitors doubled their lead in the second half when Darron Gibson shot from outside the 18-yard box - after a smart one-two involving Giggs and Wayne Rooney - to claim his third goal of the week.
A close-range goal finally arrived courtesy of Antonio Valencia with the same player crossing for Rooney to add the fourth a little later.
Junior Stanislas would have grabbed a consolation goal for West Ham, had he not shot wide.
At the Emirates Stadium a 2-0 win for Arsenal against Stoke City put Arsene Wenger in a hand-shaking mood.
Wenger chose to retain only three of the players he picked for the Carling Cup defeat against Manchester City, with Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri returning to the line-up and both having early chances as Arsenal began the match at a frantic pace.
Rory Delap checked the home side's progress with some finely-taken throw-ins but the Irish player is less convincing with the ball near his feet and he conceded a penalty after tripping Arshavin.
Gunners' skipper Cesc Fabregas took the penalty which was saved well by Sorensen, but the Spaniard made up for his mistake in open play in the 26th minute, exchanging passes with Arshavin before the Russian 'assassin' shot low into the corner of the goal.
A second goal nearly followed amid farcical scenes a dozen touches later when Traore's cross hit the post and Fabregas's volleyed follow-up hit team-mate Emmanuel Eboue.
The luckless Eboue hobbled off early in the second half, with Wenger hoping that the player won't be joining the likes of Robin van Persie, Gael Clichy and Kieron Gibbs on the long-term injury list.
Arshavin provided a distraction from the treatment-table woes when his deflected shot hit the bar, before substitute Aaron Ramsey's shot, hit with the outside of his boot from outside the penalty area, avoided the woodwork to put Arsenal two-up.
Stoke had no answer to Arsenal's passing prowess and were well-beaten by the time Wenger shook hands with Potters' manager Tony Pulis.
Birmingham City, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten league run to six games with a 3-2 win at Wigan.
The battling nature of the play soon claimed some casualties; Brum defender Roger Johnson had his nose bloodied after a clash with Hugo Rodallega and injury-prone Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was forced off with a back injury.
At the other end Birmingham keeper Hart was powerless to stop Charles N'Zogbia's curling shot from hitting his net in the 33rd minute, Rodellega claiming the vital assist.
Birmingham's equaliser came when no Wigan player took responsibility for Sebastian Larsson's free kick, the ball floating into the net even though it was more of a cross than a shot.
Lee Bowyer then boosted his popularity with Birmingham fans by supplying a long pass which led to his side taking the lead after Benitez skinned Titus Bramble for pace and shot past Mike Pollitt.
Birmingham's third resulted from another curling Larsson free kick, this one hit with more scoring intent than his previous effort, though Wigan clawed back a goal in the last minute through a Junior Gomez free-kick.
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