S'land 2 West Ham Utd 1

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 29th March 2008

West Ham's away day woes continued today as they went down 2-1 at Sunderland thanks to a 96th minute winner from Andy Reid.

The former Charlton midfielder hit the winning goal six minutes into injury time at the end of the game to condemn United to yet another defeat on their travels.

However perhaps of more concern to Alan Curbishley was yet another fresh batch of injuries; Carlton Cole (strain), Freddie Ljungberg (hamstring), John Paintsil (concussion), Dean Ashton (ankle) and George McCartney all suffered knocks in the game which left United with just ten men for the final fifteen minutes.

Yet it had all started so positively for Alan Curbishley and his team; after dampening Sunderland's early enthusiasm Freddie Ljungberg had given the Hammers a deserved 18th minute lead when he fired home into Craig Gordon's far post having been cleverly set up by Carlton Cole, back in the side after injury.

Indeed, United's attacking 4-4-2 formation that started the game threatened to go on and put the game beyond doubt before the break, but fortunately for the Black Cats 'keeper Craig Gordon was enjoying a good day between the sticks.

His 37th minute save from Carlton Cole's dipping, swerving 20-yard effort was particularly memorable and certainly kept Sunderland's interest alive.

Despite West Ham's impressive first half performance Rob Green was still called into action on a number of occasions - most notably to deny Andy Reid and Michael Chopra.

But there was little the England keeper could to to prevent Kenwyn Jones from equalising just ahead of the half hour mark when the big striker converted Kieron Richardson's cross that had been diverted into his path by Daryl Murphy.

An easier goal Jones will never score, and despite claims of offside from West Ham's defence the goal was (rightly) allowed to stand - much to the appreciation of the fervent home crowd, who had packed into the Stadium of Light hoping to see their side put some daylight between themselves and the relegation zone.

With the game evenly poised at the break it was all to play for in the second half. However there appeared to be only one side that were intent on winning it, and in the end the only surprise was that it took Sunderland so long to find the goal that did so.

Roy Keane's side spent much of the second period camped inside United's half and peppered Rob Green's goal with shots. However their profligacy - most notably illustrated by Daryl Murphy's glaring 'open goal' fluff on 81 minutes - served to demostrate exactly why they are fighting relegation.

And but for the generosity of referee Andre Marriner - who allowed play to continue beyond the allotted five minutes of injury time - they would have been cursing yet another wasted opportunity tonight.

West Ham's chance of winning the game disappeared with the half time whistle, and the first sign of problems for the Irons came before the whistle for the second half had even been blown.

George McCartney had failed to reappear after the break so his place was taken by John Paintsil, which meant Lucas Neill switching from right to left-back.

Carlton Cole - who had been limping since the half hour mark - was finally substituted after 65 minutes with Sunderland running rampant.

The introduction of his replacement, Nobby Solano was meant to frustrate and impede the home side due to the extra man in the middle - but it was a plan that simply failed to work as the Black Cats continued to run the game.

Further misery for the visitors came on 74 minutes when John Paintsil was involved in a sickening collision with team mate Jonathan Spector leaving the Ghanaian barely conscious.

His replacement, birthday boy James Tomkins (19 today) moved into the centre of defence which meant yet another re-shuffle as Spector (who had fortunately escaped unharmed) stepped in at right-back - United's third of the afternoon.

By this time Curbishley had used all his substitutes, and when Dean Ashton went down on 83 minutes clutching his (previously broken) ankle everyone feared the worst. However the striker bravely returned to the pitch after a brief liaison with the magic sponge - even though he was clearly less than 100 per cent.

Yet there was still more to come; Freddie Ljungberg, who had set off in chase of a long ball down the line pulled up sharply before going down clutching his thigh in agony.

It was a desperately familiar sight, and the hamstring injury may well have prematurely ended the Swedish captain's season. Of more immediate concern was that the Hammers were left with ten men on the pitch, and one of those (Ashton) was at best walking wounded.

Despite the seriously adverse conditions it seemed as if the Hammers had done just about enough to salvage a point that, in truth, they barely deserved.

That was until Andy Reid, the target of much abuse from the travelling fans due to his less than athletic build fired home the winning goal with virtually the last kick of the game after pouncing on a loose ball in West Ham's penalty box.

That the goal arrived on precisely 95 minutes 26 seconds - with the referee's assistant having signalled five minutes of injury time some moments before - riled Alan Curbishley, who launched a scathing attack on match official Marriner after the game (more on that later).

But it was no less than his team had deserved after a second half performance that, to put not too fine a point on it, stunk - even with the injury concerns taken into consideration.

The defeat means that all the Hammers have to play for now this season is a top half finish, whilst a win for Tottenham tomorrow could narrow the gap between the two sides to just two points.

However after five years of nailbiting final days perhaps that's not such a bad thing after all...

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