Stoke Stunned at the Brittania
West Ham travelled to the Britannia Stadium, in need of a vital victory, having not won away since the 1-0 win at Newcastle United in November. Stoke City had only lost once at home in the Premier League this season.
With Kevin Nolan & Mark Noble not travelling with the squad, Sam Allardyce must have feared the worse when he was forced into a double substitution after just 10 minutes, with Matt Taylor taking a boot in the face from Peter Crouch and Joe Cole coming off with a hamstring injury with Jack Collison & Ricardo Vaz Te coming on in their places.
With chances few and far between for both sides, midway through the first half the instrumental James Collins headed the ball against the crossbar from a Matt Jarvis corner. West Ham finally took the lead in first-half injury time when Jack Collison was found in the area by Ricardo Vaz Te, and he slotted a low drive into the corner.
Stoke were booed off at half-time and the atmosphere became even more tense in the second period. Asmir Begovic saved smartly from Matt Jarvis. Tony Pulis introduced Brek Shea, Kenwyne Jones and Charlie Adam in a bid to kick some life into his team but Stoke were still woefully short of ideas.
Ricardo Vaz Te should have killed off the game in the 78th minute when he rounded Asmir Begovic but hesitated in the box and Stoke cleared the danger.
Stoke launched a late attack and Charlie Adam almost salvaged a point with a spectacular volley against the bar, but West Ham hung on for a very important away victory and move nine points clear of the bottom three.
Damo (@ FATTYHAMMER)
With Kevin Nolan & Mark Noble not travelling with the squad, Sam Allardyce must have feared the worse when he was forced into a double substitution after just 10 minutes, with Matt Taylor taking a boot in the face from Peter Crouch and Joe Cole coming off with a hamstring injury with Jack Collison & Ricardo Vaz Te coming on in their places.
With chances few and far between for both sides, midway through the first half the instrumental James Collins headed the ball against the crossbar from a Matt Jarvis corner. West Ham finally took the lead in first-half injury time when Jack Collison was found in the area by Ricardo Vaz Te, and he slotted a low drive into the corner.
Stoke were booed off at half-time and the atmosphere became even more tense in the second period. Asmir Begovic saved smartly from Matt Jarvis. Tony Pulis introduced Brek Shea, Kenwyne Jones and Charlie Adam in a bid to kick some life into his team but Stoke were still woefully short of ideas.
Ricardo Vaz Te should have killed off the game in the 78th minute when he rounded Asmir Begovic but hesitated in the box and Stoke cleared the danger.
Stoke launched a late attack and Charlie Adam almost salvaged a point with a spectacular volley against the bar, but West Ham hung on for a very important away victory and move nine points clear of the bottom three.
Damo (
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