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Full-Time: WEST HAM 4-1 BLACKBURN. The Hammers secure a much-needed three points against a battling Blackburn side. Roberts' missed penalty early in the second half cost Rovers dear.
WEST HAM 4-1 BLACKBURN. COLE puts the icing on the cake after good work by Parker.
WEST HAM 3-1 BLACKBURN. BELLAMY races away and slots the ball under Robinson to make the game safe for West Ham.
A late booking for Bellamy.
So close for Blackburn as Roberts glances his header wide of the target.
West Ham look neverous at the back. There could be a final twist in this match.
Blackburn defender Nelsen tries a shot at goal but his effort goes harmlessly wide.
The game has really slowed now and Blackburn look in danger of suffering their ninth successive defeat at Upton Park.
Davenport looks to double his tally for the afternoon but his 25 yard shot flies wide of the target.
Alan Curbishley looks to strengthen the West Ham midfield as Mullins comes on for Noble.
Robinson keeps Rovers in the match with two excellent saves. The first was a point-blank stop from Cole, the second a diving tip around the post from Bellamy.
Green saves well at the second attempt as Reid tries his luck from outside the area.
Great save by Green. Derbyshire did well to send over a teasing cross for Emerton but Green saves his downward header with his feet.
Fans favourite Ashton is replaced by Bellamy.
A frustrating game for Pedersen is brought to an end as he is replaced by Treacy.
Derbyshire races clear and lifts his shot up and over the advancing Green - but the ball sails just wide of the target. Good chance for Blackburn.
Ashton smashes a shot across the Blackburn goalmouth.
Ooijer and Robinson get in a mess and the Blackburn centre back heads passed the keeper for a corner.
A defensive substitution by West Ham as the impressive Faubert makes way for McCartney.
Ashton smacks the ball against the Blackburn post - but the linesman flagged for offside.
Emerton is booked for a foul on Faubert.
There's a slower pace to the second half as West Ham look to pass the ball in defence. Blackburn's penalty miss was a warning to the hosts.
Penalty to Blackburn for a handball by Cole. Roberts steps up but Green palms the ball to safety. It was a poor spot-kick by the Blackburn striker.
One Blackburn debutant makes way for another as Andrews comes on for Grella at the start of the second half.
Half-TIme: WEST HAM 2-1 BLACKBURN. A cracking opening 45 minutes is brought to an end by ref Mike Riley. Davenport and an own goal by Samba put the Hammers in control in this end-to-end contest but a neat finish by Roberts has given Blackburn hope.
Corner to West Ham as the fourth official's board goes up with two minutes of added time at the end of the first half.
West Ham fans scream for a penalty as Samba eases Cole off the ball. Mike Riley waves play on.
Cole can't get over a cross by Faubert and heads high and wide. He really should have hit the target.
The game is beginning to settle down after a frantic opening half hour.
Faubert slides the ball across the six yard box but there's nobody in a claret and blue shirt to make it 3 for West Ham. The french winger is having a great game.
Goal for Blackburn!? But no, Derbyshire is judged to be offside after forcing the ball past Green. It was the substitute's first touch.
Ooijer goes into the book for bringing down Etherington.
A blow to Blackburn's hopes of a comeback? Last season's top scorer, Santa Cruz, is injured and makes way for Derbyshire.
Goal scorer Roberts picks up a booking for a foul on Behrami .
It's an end-to-end game at Upton Park. Just as Rovers look to be finding a way back into the game, West Ham go back on the attack. Corner to the Hamers.
WEST HAM 2-1 BLACKBURN. Rovers are back in it as ROBERTS turns superbly in the box and fires past Green.
WEST HAM 2-0 BLACKBURN. Great play by the Hammers. The move started with Parker and Faubert exchanging passes before sending over a cross for Ashton to stab the ball goalwards. It looks like it came off SAMBA for an own goal.
Roberts drills in a 25 yard shot but Davenport does well to block it.
Blackburn players are furious that Davenport isn't booked after bringing down Pedersen on his way to goal.
WEST HAM 1-0 BLACKBURN. West Ham take the lead as DAVENPORT heads home from a corner. Blackburn keeper Robinson looked to be in no man's land.
Etherington makes a great run at the Blackburn defence and Ooijer does well to clear for a corner.
A petulant start to his debut for Grella as he goes into the book for a late tackle.
First clear cut chance of the game as Santa Cruz fires a shot at the West Ham goal but Neill does well to block his effort.
Parker makes a lung busting run from midfield but over-runs the ball and Blackburn keeper Robinson collects.
West Ham supporters are far from happy with boss Alan Curbishley - but as referee Mike Riley gets proceedings underway, the sound of I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles rings out around Upton Park.
Blackburn: Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Emerton, Reid, Grella, Pedersen, Roque Santa Cruz, Roberts
Paul Ince replaces Mokoena and Dunn with Emerton and new signing Grella for Blackburn. Fellow new boys Villanueva and Andrews start on the bench.
West Ham: Green, Behrami, Davenport, Upson, Neill, Faubert, Parker, Noble, Etherington, Cole, Ashton
West Ham start with the same eleven that lost 3-0 to Man City last weekend. Bellamy is fit enough to take his place on the bench for Alan Curbishley's injury hit side.
Paul Ince could not have chosen a worse place to suffer his first defeat as Blackburn boss than in his native East End. Calum Davenport's early header, a Christopher Samba own goal plus stoppage-time strikes by Craig Bellamy and Carlton Cole made this look like a right Hammering but, in truth, the scoreline flattered the club he joined as a schoolboy in the early-eighties. Indeed, Jason Roberts' first-half strike had ensured that Blackburn were still in it at the break and the Rovers striker was also denied an equaliser, when Robert Green saved his 47th-minute penalty. Add in injured Roque Santa Cruz's half-hour departure and replacement Matt Derbyshire's dubiously disallowed goal and it all made for a miserable afternoon for Ince, who had arrived at Upton Park in third place, thanks to an opening-day win at Everton and last week's draw with Hull City. Both sides had enjoyed carbon-copy 4-1 Carling Cup victories in midweek and made wholesale changes to their starting line-ups, too. Paul Robinson, Andre Ooijer, Stephen Warnock, Roberts, Santa Cruz, Samba, Steven Reid and Vince Grella were the eight players recalled by Ince following Wednesday's win against Grimsby Town. And after finally seeing off Macclesfield Town in extra-time, Alan Curbishley made five changes of his own as Lucas Neill, Mark Noble, Scott Parker, Matthew Etherington and Cole each returned to the Hammers' starting line-up. While Ince had been back to Upton Park several times as a player since his acrimonious departure in 1989, this was the first time he had sat in the dug-out as a manager. Sure enough, within seconds of the kick-off, his first strut into the technical area was met by a predictable chorus of boos from an East End crowd, who have never forgiven him for being photographed in a Manchester United shirt, while still a Hammer. On 12 minutes, however, those snarls dramatically changed to smiles, when Davenport soared above Ryan Nelsen to meet Julien Faubert's inswinging corner and claim his first-ever goal for West Ham United with a crashing, six-yard header. With 20 minutes on referee Mike Riley's watch, the Hammers doubled their lead. Once again, Frenchman Faubert was the architect, inviting Noble to sweep a 15-yarder goalwards and, under pressure from Dean Ashton on the six-yard line, the red-faced Samba's attempted haymaker skewed beyond the flat-footed Robinson. But Rovers replied within seconds, when Grella nodded a poor defensive clearance to Roberts, who spun Davenport and advanced into the West Ham area, where he threaded a close-range shot past the woefully exposed Robert Green to collect a second, successive Premier League goal. By now, though, Santa Cruz was crocked and, as the half-hour mark approached, he was replaced by Matt Derbyshire, who forced the ball over the line with his first touch, only to see his effort ruled out by a debatable offside flag. Although Morten Gamst Pedersen sent a 25-yard free-kick just a whisker wide, it had certainly been a better opening half for Curbishley than the frustrated Ince, who had also seen Grella, Ooijer and Roberts cautioned. New-signing Keith Andrews replaced Grella at the interval and, within seconds of the restart, Roberts spurned a great chance to level, when his low spot-kick towards the bottom right-hand corner was saved by Green, after Cole had handled Pedersen's free-kick. On the hour, Davenport sent an electrifying, angled volley beyond the far post and, seconds later, Derbyshire danced into the West Ham area and deposited the ball onto the roof of Green's net. With 20 minutes remaining, Brett Emerton's downward header bounced off the well-placed Green's shin and then the Hammers keeper did well to hold Reid's 25-yard sizzler. At other end, Robinson was equally defiant, beating away substitute Bellamy's scorching snapshot, before clawing Cole's curler around his left-hand post, but in stoppage time, the Rovers keeper twice found himself picking the ball out of the net. First the escaping Bellamy raced onto Neill's lofted free-kick forward and lashed an angled ten-yard shot under the far angle and, with Rovers now in total disarray, Valon Behrami's cutback was unselfishly squared across goal by Parker and Cole simply made it Rover and out for the incensed Ince.
Corners
Fouls
Goal attempts
Shots off target
Offsides
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