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  • Vassell (16)
  • Cole (8)
  • Date:2008-01-20
  • Kick-off:16:00
  • Venue:City of Manchester Stadium
  • Attendance:39042
  • Referee:Dowd, P

Live Commentary

90mins

It's finished 1-1, West Ham probably deserved more after Vassell's goal levelled matters following Cole's superb opener early on.

90mins

Cole's header from Faubert's cross is tipped over the bar - a great late chance gone

90mins

Into injury time but Bowyer goes off in place of Jonathan Spector

88mins

Ljungberg's shot is also into the side-netting - another chance goes begging

87mins

The free-kick comes to nothing in the end - time almost up now

86mins

Noble decides to take it upon himself to pace out the 10 yards for the free-kick and is booked

85mins

Bowyer reacts to it and is rightly booked as well

85mins

Geovanni is booked for a foul on Lee Bowyer

83mins

Ljungberg does well to find some space to work a shot but it's into the side-netting

82mins

Eight minutes or so left and time running out for a winner

80mins

Petrov's free-kick is headed goalwards by Bianchi but it's easy for Green again

78mins

A disappointing Elano goes off to be replaced by Javier Garrido

77mins

City mount a quick counter-attack and Elano heads over from a good position

77mins

Noble almost makes it 2-1, but Hart saves very well after a lovely move from the visitors

76mins

The decision looked harsh to disallow that 'goal' and West Ham remain the better side

74mins

Faubert nearly makes an instant impact as he taps the ball home but the ref says he had pushed a City defender beforehand

72mins

Julien Faubert replaces the ineffective Boa Morte for West Ham

71mins

Petrov's free-kick is poor and never troubling Green

71mins

Boa Morte hauls down Hamann and is lucky not to escape a second booking

69mins

Ireland goes off now for City - Geovanni comes on

68mins

Bianchi fires a half-volley at goal but Green claims the ball well

66mins

Elano's free-kick from around 30 yards is way off target and the ball flies over

65mins

Mullins shoots after a couple of West Ham corners but it's off target

62mins

It's still the visitors who are on top and look the more likely to score next

60mins

Hayden Mullins fires in a shot that Hart has to touch behind for a corner from which West Ham want a penalty but the referee says no

59mins

Gelson Fernandes comes on in place of Vassell for City

58mins

Petrov breaks forward and it looks dangerous but he can't make the most of the chance

57mins

West Ham go up the other end though and win a corner but no player can get on the end of it and another opening goes begging

57mins

The home side earn a second corner in quick succession but the visitors defend well again

56mins

City win a corner after Anton Ferdinand does well at the back for West Ham

55mins

It's been a rather scrappy start to the second half at Eastlands

53mins

Hart gathers the ball as a Hammers attack breaks down again

51mins

Boa Morte is the third man to be booked for a lunge on Vassell

49mins

Noble gets a decent sight of goal but wastefully lifts his shot over the bar

47mins

No changes by either manager at half time as Cole is rather harshly judged to have fouled Richards

45mins

The second period begins with City hoping for a better performance after the break

45mins

Level at the break after a lively half, Vassell's tap-in cancelling out Cole's early effort for an impressive West Ham, City, though, have been disappointing

45mins

Dunne has to divert the ball behind for another Hammers corner but it comes to nothing

44mins

Cole is involved in another attack but Micah Richards does well to hussle him off the ball and the chance goes begging

42mins

Boa Morte over-runs the ball with Ljungberg in a great position ahead of him

41mins

West Ham win another corner but City defend well and Dietmar Hamann releases Bianchi but that move breaks down

39mins

Neill's cross is well claimed by Hart again - the visitors continue to push for a second goal

37mins

Cole breaks forward but decides to play in Ljungberg when a shot himself looked the better option - the Swedish star is offside though

36mins

Apart from the two goals, there's been very few clear chances but West Ham are still the better side as City clear a corner

34mins

Richard Dunne's challenge on Boa Morte is poor and that's a West Ham free-kick and the City man a booking

31mins

Ljungberg's cross is poor and easy for Hart

30mins

Stephen Ireland's shot is straight into the arms of Robert Green

27mins

Lucas Neill is late on Petrov and he picks up the first booking of the game

25mins

It's been a decent opening 25 minutes, with West Ham just edging the game so far

22mins

Rolando Bianchi does well and fires a shot in but it's well off target - an awful attempt in the end

20mins

The goal has buoyed City after a poor start from them

18mins

Vassell looked offiside as the first cross came over but City don't care and they're level - a lively start at Eastlands

17mins

Darius Vassell pokes home the equaliser from close-range after West Ham fail to deal with a corner

15mins

City have struggled so far and the crowd are very quiet at the moment as Hart easily gathers a free-kick

13mins

Ljungberg breaks forward again as West Ham continue to dominate early on here

11mins

Martin Petrov's free-kick is deflected behind for a corner

10mins

A great start for the visitors here, a great strike from Cole

8mins

Carlton Cole puts the Hammers in front with a superb overhead kick

6mins

Noble goes down but that's not a foul and West Ham can break and Luis Boa Morte wins a corner

3mins

Joe Hart slides out to claim the ball with Freddie Ljungberg advancing for the visitors

2mins

A quiet first couple of minutes with no early chances to report

0mins

These two sides go head to head again - the third time in recent weeks, as the action begins at Eastlands

0mins

City make one change with Rolando Bianchi coming in for Nery Castillo up front, Hammers boss Alan Curbishley replaces Dean Ashton with Carlton Cole in attack and Hayden Mullins comes in for Matthew Etherington in midfield.

Match Preview

Manchester City and West Ham United will lock horns for the third time in two weeks when they renew Premier League rivalries on Sunday.

An FA Cup third round goalless draw on January 5 necessitated a replay on Wednesday night which the Citizens won 1-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Elano's second-half goal settled a tight encounter between two evenly-matches sides and the smart money would appear to be on another low-scoring affair on Sunday.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's side were also 2-0 winners over the Hammers on the first day of the season with Geovanni adding a late gloss to the final scoreline with an 87th-minute second goal.

Eriksson's policy for cup competitions has been to name a virtual full-strength side so the Swede is unlikely to make dramatic changes for the league clash.

Rolando Bianchi will step up from the bench to replace Nery Castillo after the Mexican striker suffered a dislocated shoulder in midweek, but otherwise the starting 11 seems certain to be unchanged with only midfielder Michael Johnson unavailable through injury.

City though will be looking for only a second win in six games having lost 1-0 to top-six rivals Everton last weekend.

Two defeats, two draws and one victory of late has resulted in Eriksson's side slipping out of the top four and, with the rest of the UEFA Cup candidates beginning to bunch up behind, a return to winning ways is essential.

West Ham manager Alan Curbishley is looking forward to an immediate chance of revenge when his side returns to the north-west at the weekend.

"We've ended up on the wrong end of the result (in the FA Cup), but we can take a lot out of this game and come back here on Sunday and try to turn it around," he said.

"We're obviously disappointed, but now we just need to regroup and, if I get the same level of performance and effort, then we may well get something."

Several players remain unavailable to Curbishley as the Hammers look to build on last weekend's 2-1 victory over Fulham which consolidated their position just inside the top half of the table.

Julien Faubert, Luis Boa Morte and Lee Bowyer all featured in midweek after returning from injury, but the likes of Scott Parker (knee), Nolberto Solano (hamstring), Craig Bellamy (abdominal strain), Bobby Zamora (knee) and Kieron Dyer (broken leg) remain sidelined.


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Match Report

Manchester City's aim of landing a Champions League spot was dealt a blow as they were held at home by mid-table West Ham United.

After winning their first nine Premier League game at Eastlands, City have started to stutter at home having drawn their last three matches in which they have allowed six points to slip away.

City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson will have been delighted to pick up a point as his side could easily have lost and surrendered their unbeaten home record.

The Hammers, who lost 1-0 at City four days earlier in the FA Cup, completely dominated the second half and ought to have left victors, though the point they picked up consolidates their top-ten spot.

City had an early let-off when Freddie Ljungberg beat the offside trap but keeper Joe Hart dashed off his line to block at the feet of the Swede.

But they did not heed that warning as the Hammers stole ahead in the eighth minute. Richard Dunne's wayward clearance gifted possession to the visitors and Ljungberg's cross was converted by Carlton Cole.

The Hammers striker flicked the ball up and found the net with an acrobatic overhead kick, despite the valiant effort of Micah Richards to keep out the effort.

It was a sweet moment for Cole because, but for an injury to Dean Ashton, he probably would not have made the starting line-up.

City were on level terms in the 16th minute though when Darius Vassell scored his third goal of the season after some slipshod defending.

The Hammers failed to clear Martin Petrov's cross and Vassell was free inside the six-yard box to slot the ball low past keeper Robert Green.

After a lively opening quarter-of-an-hour the remainder of the first half was decidedly flat with neither side carving out any further chances.

The Hammers made a far more positive and adventurous start to the second half as Mark Noble and Cole both went close.

Hayden Mullins then brought a fine save from Hart and the same player shot just wide.

City had another let-off in the 73rd minute when substitute Julien Faubert forced home a Ljungberg cross from close range, only to have the effort ruled out for offside.

Hart then came to City's rescue again, keeping out Noble's shot with his legs.

Ljungberg twice went close to grabbing a winner in the latter stages, each time cutting in from the left but firing into the side-netting on both occasions.

Then, in the third and final minute of stoppage time, the Hammers again so nearly snatched victory through Cole's header which was brilliantly turned over the crossbar by man-of-the-match Hart.

Manchester City

West Ham United

Corners

510

Fouls

1520

Goal attempts

1111

Shots off target

56

Offsides

12

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