West Ham United 2 Sunderland 0
Saturday, 22nd March 2003
by Mike Barrett
Four games unbeaten, only one goal conceded in that time, surely this is not the form of a side that is facing relegation. Unfortunately, the harsh reality of it is that we may still go down, but boy are we giving ourselves a fighting chance of staying up.
With Bolton Wanderers not playing until Monday night, when they face T*ttenham Hotspur at the Reebok Stadium, West Ham had the chance to climb out of the bottom three since November.So the almost already doomed Sunderland at home the visitors to Upton Park on a delightful afternoon where if their football team could match the quality of their fans, they would be flying for a place in Europe, but unfortunately that commitment and desire seems to be waiting for next season where I have no doubt they will be pushing for automatic promotion back to the Premiership.
But for now they are still a Premiership team, and you have to beat these teams if you wish to stay in the countries elite yourself. The most pleasing part of the victory was the way in which we had hunger from the first minute to the last to ensure that we stayed on course to make what is being labeled as the Great Escape.
In the center of the park, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole had one of there better games, controlling the midfield limiting and flowing football from Sunderland and causing a massive territorial advantage that saw the Mackems get into our third on a small number of occasions.
All the pushing and fighting that has been missing so much of this season was there in abundance and on 23 minutes, West Ham finally got their reward for all the hard work, when the impressive Les Ferdinand nodded down for Jermaine Defoe to twist and turn and with his back to goal, loop the ball over the helpless Sorensen. The celebration of the players was evident but this was a lead to build upon to ensure that these 3 points were gained.
This goal was followed but a precession of free kicks outside the Sunderland box, but wayward efforts by Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Defoe caused Sunderland no cause for concern?EUR?. maybe something for Mr Roeder to think about on the training pitch before the trip to Southampton on April 5th.
As for what has happened on the training pitch over recent weeks, credit where it is due and defensively we looked pretty sound, Ian Pearce and Tomas Repka look to finally be settled at the back along with the young and supposedly in experienced Glenn Johnson holding at bay anything Tore Andre Flo and Kevin Phillips could muster in attack. Also pleasing was when players were caught out of position, the likes of Trevor Sinclair in paticular fought hard to win the ball back.
So half time came and one change for the Hammers when Les Ferdinand (Sore Shin) was replaced by Frederick Kanoute, doning his new white boots.
Soon after the interval, probably one of the blatant penalties I have not seen given when Glenn Johnson was almost chopped in half just inside the area. Verdict by refereee left all wondering what game he was actually watching.
But it did not take long for West Ham to get the second goal when Michael Carrick, whose distribution all afternoon had not been terrific, finally played a well weighted through ball to Kanoute who finished excellently in the bottom right hand corner to give us a 2-0 lead.
This lead should have been extended soon after when Jermaine Defoe, tormentor of the Sunderland back line all afternoon rounded three defenders and the scrambling Sorenson before seeing his shot hit a sliding defender who seemed to know little about it and the ball flew over the top of the crossbar.
From the resulting corner, the ball found its way to the unmarked Defoe who powered his header towards goal but a fantastic save from Sorenson prevented a 3-0 lead. That was the last of any real Hammers chances and Sunderland huffed and puffed to try and get something out of the game but with little effect.
So at the final whistle, the Great Escape theme tune, which I don?EUR(TM)t agree with in the slightest was followed by bubbles and delighted fans left the ground in the hope that we will stay up finding ourselves out of the bottom three.
Although I have to admit, if we are to stay up this year, Messrs Ferdinand, Brevett and Johnson should come in for more credit than so far given
Hopefully this is the physiological boost the will endeavor to fight or cause and see what Bolton Wanderers and maybe Leeds United and Aston Villa are made of.
Player Ratings
David James (7) Had little to do.
Glenn Johnson (9) Attacked well, defended even better.
Rufus Brevett (7) Solid throughout.
Tomas Repka (7) Won headers and tackles without recklessness.
Ian Pearce (7) Quiet, but effective.
Steve Lomas (6) Did nothing to influence the game.
Michael Carrick (8) Got better as the game went on.
Joe Cole (8) Worked tirelessly.
Trevor Sinclair (9) Best perfomance in ages. Man of the Match.
Jermain Defoe (9) Caused no end of problems.
Les Ferdinand (7) Doing exactly what he was brought in for.
Substitutes
Frederic Kanoute (7) Took his goal well.
Edouard Cisse (6) Late replacement for Lomas.
Don Hutchison (5) Late replacement for Cole.
Referee
Rob Styles (5) Gave some strange decisions, especially the 'penalty'.
KUMB Stats
West Ham United: James, Johnson, Repka, Pearce, Brevett, Sinclair, Carrick, Lomas (Hutchison 87), Cole (Cisse 84), Les Ferdinand (Kanoute 45), Defoe.
Subs not used: Van Der Gouw, Dailly.
Sunderland: Sorensen, Williams, El Karkouri, Bjorklund, McCartney (Proctor 64), Butler (Stewart 80), Thornton, Kilbane, Gray, Phillips, Flo (Kyle 57).
Subs not used: Poom, Babb.
Goals: Defoe (24), Kanoute (65).
Booked: Johnson.
Attendance: 35,033.
Referee: Rob Styles.
KUMB Man of the Match: Joe Cole.
* Want to submit your match reports to KUMB.com? More details here ...
Click to view all West Ham United vs Sunderland match reports Click to view all match reports by Mike Barrett Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Substitutes
Match Facts
West Ham United: , , , , , , , , , , .Goals: None.
Booked: None.
Sent off: None.
: .
Subs not used: .
Goals: .
Booked: .
Sent off: None.
Referee: .
Attendance: 0.
Man of the Match: .