Source: Telegraph
West Ham beat Fulham without wantaway Craig Bellamy
'Who needs Craig Bellamy?' sang a united Upton Park and, on this evidence, the question is a fair one. After all, Bellamy managed just seven Premier League goals in 18 months as a West Ham player and, in his absence, Gianfranco Zola's rejuvenated Irons made a mockery of Fulham's nine-game unbeaten run with a disciplined and intelligent display. [LNB]In truth, West Ham still need Bellamy, given their dearth of strikers but, as things stand, his situation at West Ham appears untenable. A player who seemingly refused to train, wants to leave and will have heard, if he was watching, the choruses of '**** off, Craig Bellamy' echo around the stadium. [LNB]Fulham arrived on the back of their best ever Premier League run but three individual errors handed West Ham their fourth win in five games. [LNB]The club may be in financial meltdown, with the Premier League's richer vultures hovering over London E13, but Zola, after an initially shaky start to life in management, is slowly molding a side that is both efficient and a pleasure on the eye, echoing the manager during his playing days. [LNB]With Bellamy AWOL, Zola recalled Italian striker David Di Michele and the game was just seven minutes old when he gave West Ham the lead with his first goal for the club since September. Paul Konchesky's wonderful strike against the team he supported as a boy brought Fulham back into the game but a Mark Noble penalty and deserved fourth goal in four games, for Carlton Cole, completed this one-sided affair. [LNB]Afterwards Zola admitted: 'During the week there has been so much talking around us. I only had time to think about the game yesterday, it has been unbelievable. It would have been easier for us to fail. [LNB]'It was a great result, a great performance and I am very proud of my players. They made it happen.'[LNB]Fulham's strength this season has been their resilience but, as manager Roy Hodgson admitted honestly, they produced a full quota of errors in one Sunday afternoon. [LNB]The first came from former West Ham defender John Pantsil when presented with a cross from Lucas Neill. The Ghanaian attempted to chest the ball to Mark Schwarzer, but it dropped instead for Di Michele, who showed speed of thought and pace to nick in and finish well. [LNB]It was the first away goal conceded by Fulham in seven hours and 40 minutes but when Konchesky ventured forward and dispatched an unstoppable shot into the top corner from 30 yards, the visitors appeared to be showing some resistance. It was short lived. [LNB]Konchesky's first goal for Fulham – and his first since his screamer for West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup final -- offered hope to Fulham but West Ham's response was not what one would expect for20a seemingly impoverished team weakened by the absence of a petulant key protagonist. [LNB]And Zola had Cole to thank, particularly in the second half. Thorough and meticulous, his hard work led to the second goal, but again an error helped. Konchesky dallied over the ball just outside the Fulham area, allowing the alert Cole to steal it and race into the area. There was only one course of action for the defender, who conceded the penalty and escaped a possible sending off, referee Phil Dowd offering leniency in the light of the direction, away from goal, of Cole's run. [LNB]Noble converted West Ham's first penalty of the season and then Cole claimed the goal he deserved. The error this time was down to Dickson Etuhu, who lost possession to the impressive youngster Jack Collison, who fed Di Michele. In turn, the Italian sent Cole forward and he finished sublimely to claim his ninth goal of the season and his best ever return from a single campaign.[LNB]Spot the Bellamy[LNB]Craig Bellamy's whereabouts on Sunday had the fans puzzled as he was 'spotted' variously at Eastlands, White Hart Lane, Reading's Madejski Stadium, buying Y-fronts at the Ealing branch of Marks & Spencers – and clay pigeon shooting in the Algarve with ex-Leeds star Peter Lorimer.[LNB]
