Premiership
West Ham United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers 

Monday, 17th March 2008
by Gordon Thrower

“Crisis? What crisis!” as Supertramp once said.



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Player Ratings

Robert Green
An uncertain start but more than redeemed himself with a fine save at the end.


Lucas Neill
Better than of late but there were still some worrying moments ?EUR" such as the way he was caught out of position for the Blackburn goal.


George McCartney
Decent outing ?EUR" especially so when you consider the lack of support he had on his side on occasion.


Anton Ferdinand
Struggles without Upson and was given a torrid time by Santa Cruz & co.


Jonathan Spector
Did ok without ever quite looking like he ought to be considered a first choice pick in that position.


Hayden Mullins
Steady enough. One nice through ball late on.


Scott Parker
Another decent run out, though he looked knackered by the end.


Freddie Ljungberg
Infuriating. There were little signs now and then of what he can do but all too often he would go missing from the left hand side where he was needed most, thus giving us a lack of width when we were desperately crying out for it.


Nobby Solano
Tried hard enough but not much went right for him. Unusually for him he displayed a tendency to over-hit his crosses. Good free-kick in the first half though.


Bobby Zamora
Rarely looked like scoring but played a decent part in the build up play. Spent the latter period of the match in midfield and probably saw more of the left hand touchline in 15 minutes than Ljungberg saw in 75.


Dean Ashton
Sears will grab the headlines but Deano was my MOTM. Worked his socks off with his chasing and caused Blackburn no end of problems. Took his goal superbly and played a major part in the winner. A welcome return to form.



Substitutes

Mark Noble
(replaced Parker, 76) Continued where Parker had left off


Fred Sears



John Paintsil
(replaced Ljungberg, 85) Not really on long enough to make much of an impression.


Richard Wright
Did not play.


James Tomkins
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Robert Green, Lucas Neill, George McCartney, Anton Ferdinand, Jonathan Spector, Hayden Mullins, Scott Parker, Freddie Ljungberg, Nobby Solano, Bobby Zamora, Dean Ashton.

Goals: None.

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Blackburn Rovers: Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Ooijer, Warnock, Bentley, Reid, Dunn, Pedersen, Roberts, Santa Cruz.

Subs not used: Brown, Mokoena.

Goals: Santa Cruz (19).

Booked: Bentley, Dunn, Reid.

Sent off: None.

Referee: M.Atkinson.

Attendance: 34,006.

Man of the Match: Dean Ashton.