Zola hails professional Hammers

25 January 2009 12:49
The Premier League outfit wrapped up the victory in a flurry of activity at the end of the first half as Valon Behrami and Mark Noble scored within minutes to strike a decisive blow.[LNB]It was just what Zola had demanded from his players, who survived an uncomfortable first half-hour before making their move.[LNB]He said: "It was the result we were looking for and we are pleased.[LNB]"It wasn't, especially in the second half, a brilliant performance, but maybe we thought we wanted to keep it that way and not risk too much.[LNB]"But it was a great result. That's what we wanted and it was very professional."[LNB]If the game turned on Behrami's 44th-minute strike, Pool's hopes of staging a fightback were killed in their infancy when, in injury time at the end of the first half, referee Lee Mason's controversial penalty decision handed the Hammers a second, decisive goal.[LNB]Central defender Michael Nelson, for reasons best known to himself, handled Carlton Cole's flick-on, and the official pointed to the spot, although replays confirmed the incident had taken place at least a yard outside the penalty area.[LNB]Mark Noble, however, was not distracted by the boos ringing around Victoria Park and duly dispatched the ball past keeper Arran Lee-Barrett to secure the victory.[LNB]Zola said: "I haven't seen it. They have just been telling me now. It might be, I don't know.[LNB]"But sometimes in football, the referee can pick up a right decision, sometimes they can be wrong. But I don't think we beat Hartlepool because of that penalty."[LNB]Up until Behrami's goal, the League One side had more than made a fist of it, and had the impressive Scott Parker not cleared Michael Mackay's ninth-minute header off the line, things might have been even more uncomfortable for the visitors.[LNB]Robert Green had to make a fine one-handed save from Gary Liddle's header after the break, but by that point Pool's cause was a lost one.[LNB]Pool's director of sport Chris Turner, however, was not making excuses.[LNB]He said: "I'm not going to harp on about that decision. It went against us.[LNB]"I wasn't complaining at the time, but if it's not in the box, it's not in the box. But that's life.[LNB]"That second goal made it a lot easier for West Ham to come out in the second half and play how they played, and made it a lot harder for our boys going out in the second half because it was a mountain to climb psychologically.[LNB]"But in both halves of the game, the first 25 minutes of each half, we took the game to West Ham, caused them problems and put in a very creditable performance."[LNB]The win extended West Ham's unbeaten run to six games and left Zola, twice an FA Cup winner as a player with Chelsea, dreaming of another trip to Wembley.[LNB]He said: "To be fair, the players were really focused. They want to go to Wembley - we want to go to Wembley, and to go there, we need to go through games like this."[LNB]Meanwhile, Zola was unable to report any progress on the club's efforts to replace striker Craig Bellamy following his £14million move to Manchester City, but he insisted defender Matthew Upson is going nowhere.[LNB]Asked if Upson will remain at Upton Park, the Italian said: "Definitely. Matthew Upson didn't play today because he has played so many games and he needed a rest.[LNB]"He has also got some internationals coming up, so he needed to have a rest and I decided it was the time to rest him."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk