SAINTS’ Premier League top-six hopes were dented tonight as West Ham defeated Manchester United 3-2 in their last match at the Boleyn Ground.

A draw would have seen Ronald Koeman’s in-form men stay in sixth on goal difference, but the Hammers found a late winner through Winston Reid to climb back above Saints.

Slaven Bilic’s side had dropped into seventh following Saints’ superb comeback win over Tottenham on Sunday, but now have a two-point advantage in the race for Europa League places.

Sixth and fifth place are the only definite Europa qualification spaces presently – although another could open up depending on whether fifth-place United win the FA Cup and how Liverpool fare in the competition’s final against Sevilla a week today.

If the Reds were to win, they would automatically enter the Champions League.

However, Saints will be hoping that victory against Crystal Palace in their final match of the Premier League season will be enough to secure European competition for a second successive season.

Louis van Gaal’s Red Devils looked set to ruin the Hammers' final match at the Boleyn after Anthony Martial’s second-half brace cancelled out Diafra Sakho’s early effort, only for Michail Antonio and Reid to secure West Ham a 3-2 win.

It was quite a farewell party and one which kick-starts West Ham’s hopes of European qualification, while the turnaround saw United blow the chance of usurping rivals Manchester City in the final Champions League berth ahead of the Premier League finale on Sunday.

It was a night nobody at Upton Park will ever forget and certainly went a long way to making up for the pre-match incidents outside the ground, where the late-arriving United bus was hit by glass bottles and other missiles.

One police officer and a member of the public received minor injuries in the trouble that made way for a far more positive atmosphere inside Upton Park, where Van Gaal’s men struggled with the early intensity as Sakho opened the scoring with a deflected effort.

The visitors eventually found their composure and looked set to make Bilic’s men pay for failing to make their dominance count, with Martial grabbing two second-half goals to the audible frustration of the home support.

Dimitri Payet - the Hammers’ outstanding player this season - was the architect, first sending in the cross that Antonio powered home before sending in a free-kick that Reid directed in the final goal to secure victory.