Sam Allardyce was flabbergasted that his West Ham side hadn't won at Burnley at the weekend but he was celebrating a win at Peterborough last night in a performance he described as perfect.
All they really needed to do was keep a clean sheet because there is little chance of Peterborough doing likewise at the other end. They've kept only three clean sheets all season and all of those were against teams currently in the bottom five.
The points have taken West Ham to within one point of Reading and, for what it's worth a goal difference that's one goal better. It really does look as though these two are going to fight for the second automatic promotion place behind Southampton.
Nothing will be decided this weekend but it's West Ham v Reading at the Boleyn Ground and whichever of the two wins that game must surely be considering themselves favourites. That's as long as Sam isn't flabbergasted again.
The minute you write a team off at the bottom they seem to come back and win. That's what happened to Portsmouth last night. Any win for the administration league leaders is a surprise and beating Hull was definitely that.
A win for Hull would have taken them back into the top six at the expense of Birmingham City but the points have seen Pompey move off the bottom and a point clear of Doncaster. More significantly they are now just three points behind Bristol City with a massively better goal difference.
Should they beat us on Saturday there is every chance they could be back out of the bottom three going into the last few games.
All the other games ended in draws. Doncaster got a point at Palace whilst Ipswich had to come from behind to draw with Middlesbrough at Portman Road. Both games ended 1-1 with the one remaining game, that between Leicester and Nottingham Forest, ending 0-0.
We've a full fixture list at the weekend, including our long trip to Portsmouth. Those fixtures can be found below last night's results, the league's leading goalscorers, the yellow and red card counts per club and the highest and lowest attendances this season.
The Midweek Results Tuesday 27th March Crystal Palace 1 Doncaster Rovers 1 Peterborough United 0 West Ham United 2 Ipswich Town 1 Middlesbrough 1 Portsmouth 2 Hull City 0 Leicester City 0 Nottingham Forest 0The Midweek Stats Biggest Win Portsmouth 2-0 v Hull City (home)West Ham United 2-0 v Peterborough United (away) Total Goals Scored 8 (4 home - 4 away)
Player Scoring Most Goals
no player scored more than one goal Highest Attendance 23,412 - Leicester City v Nottingham Forest Lowest Attendance 13,401 - Crystal Palace v Doncaster Rovers Total Yellow Cards 14 Total Red Cards 0 Most Cards in a Game Crystal Palace v Doncaster Rovers (5Y) Ref: Darren DeadmanLeading Goalscorers (League Only) 24 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties 16 Ross McCormack (Leeds United) 15 Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penaltiesKevin Phillips (Blackpool)Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties 14
Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town)David Nugent (Leicester City)
13Billy Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty (10 with Doncaster Rovers)Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 2 penaltiesRicardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - (10 with Barnsley)
12Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penaltyMarlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties
11Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penaltyMarvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City)Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties
10 Charlie Austin (Burnley)Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 3 penaltiesLuciano Becchio (Leeds United)Guly Do Prado (Southampton)Robert Koren (Hull City)Adam Lallana (Southampton)Kevin Nolan (West Ham United)Paul Taylor (Peterborough United)Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City)Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City)Hat Tricks Date Player & Game 20/08/11 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town 10/09/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest 11/09/11 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall 12/10/11 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL 02/11/11 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL 19/11/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion 26/12/11 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL 31/12/11 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United 21/01/12 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL 31/01/12 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY 26/02/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON 17/03/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON 20/03/12 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 53 2 56 2 Ipswich Town 50 5 51 5 Birmingham City 50 3 55 3 Leeds United 62 5 68 5 Blackpool 49 1 52 2 Leicester City 55 9 63 9 Brighton and Hove Albion 81 8 95 8 Middlesbrough 66 7 69 7 Bristol City 72 6 74 6 Millwall 66 2 73 2 Burnley 54 2 62 2 Nottingham Forest 53 4 58 4 Cardiff City 46 0 62 0 Peterborough United 47 2 50 2 Coventry City 48 2 50 2 Portsmouth 63 4 70 4 Crystal Palace 48 2 52 3 Reading 52 0 55 0 Derby County 52 1 52 1 Southampton 46 4 49 4 Doncaster Rovers 66 2 68 2 Watford 55 2 57 2 Hull City 59 1 64 1 West Ham United 57 6 60 7
Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 34,936 West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) 6,351 Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) 34,900 West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) 6,392 Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03) 34,749 West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) 6,717 Peterborough United v Reading (20/03) 34,650 West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) 7,004 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) 33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 7,540 Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) 33,366 Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) 7,555 Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) 33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,572 Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03) 33,010 Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) 7,650 Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) 33,010 Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) 7,778 Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) 32,875 West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) 7,901 Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09)
The Next Fixtures Friday 30th March Doncaster Rovers v Birmingham City Saturday 31st March Blackpool v Southampton (17:25) Ipswich Town v Barnsley Brighton & Hove Albion v Middlesbrough Leeds United v Watford Bristol City v Derby County Peterborough United v Leicester City Cardiff City v Millwall (12:30) Portsmouth v Burnley Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest West Ham United v Reading Hull City v Coventry City
Source: FOOTYMAD
