Everton 2 West Ham United 0

West Ham United's dismal away form continued this afternoon as they went down 2-0 courtesy of second half goals from Leon Osman and James Vaughan.

Two defensive errors eventually proved costly for Alan Pardew's side, who should have come away with at least a point after controlling much of the game at a windy Goodison Park.

Pardew's side started the game the brighter and had an excellent first half - as summed up by the half-time corner count of 12-3 in their favour.

But once again they failed to hit the back of the net, although Lee Bowyer should have scored when some excellent work by the lively Carlos Tevez left him with just the keeper to beat from six yards; unfortunately the former Leeds man could only fire directly at Blues keeper Tim Howard.

Despite playing with the swirling wind in their favour during the first half Everton were barely in the game, and Hammers keeper Rob Green was only called into action on the rare occasion - most notably when he had to be at his best to deny James McFadden late on in the half.

But it was a different story after the break as the home side capitalised on two defensive slip-ups by Pardew's side. Firstly Jonathan Spector was guilty of failing to clear the ball when his attempted headed clearance fell into the path of Leon Osman, who volleyed home from the edge of the area on 51 minutes.

And James Collins was perhaps guilty of failing to close his man down when he backed away from substitute James Vaughan in the final minute of injury time allowing the Everton man to squeeze the ball under Rob Green from cose range to give the home side a 2-0 win which, on balance of play, was more than a tad unfair on United.

Inbetween there were some good moments for the Hammers; Carlos Tevez inparticular had a solid game and with a little more luck would have broken his goal drought.

The defeat means United have now played more than 10 hours of football on the road without scoring a goal; the last coming courtesy of Bobby Zamora in the 1-1 draw at Watford in mid-August.

United lie just one place above the relegation zone following today's defeat, although 18th-place Newcastle have a game in hand on the Hammers, who, should they continue their current form, look destined for another relegation battle.

West Ham United: Green, Spector (Mascherano 84), Konchesky, Collins, Ferdinand, Mullins, Reo-Coker, Bowyer (Sheringham 69), Etherington, Zamora (Harewood 69), Tevez.

Subs not used: Kiraly, McCartney.

Booked: Bowyer (68), Collins (78).

Everton: Howard, Yobo, Valente, Stubbs, Lescott, Osman (Weir 82), Carsley, Van Der Meyde (Vaughan 72), McFadden, Johnson, Beattie (Hughes 90+4).

Subs not used: Wright, Vidarsson.

Goals: Osman (51), Vaughan (90+3).

Booked: Osman (62), McFadden (80).

Referee: Martin Atkinson.

Attendance: 32,968.