skip to content
football.co.uk
Full Time: West Ham 1-2 Everton. The final whistle goes and the Everton players and fans take a sigh of relief as they escape with the three points. Zola's side will be disappointed to come away empty handed after a defiant display.
Franco gets a sniff of goal as the ball drops to him kindly in the box but he takes a fraction too long to get the shot off and Neill is there to deny his former side.
There will be three minutes of stoppage time! Scott Parker pulls the trigger instinctively from just outside the box but Rodwell throws himself in the ath of the shot to block.
Rodwell's shot is deflected behind by Upson for a corner that Baines will deliver from the right. The corner comes in but Upson steps forward to thump the ball clear at the front post.
Scott Parker shifts a free-kick into the path of Diamante who again will look to test Howard but his long-range strike sails well wide of the mark.
Diamante fancies a shot from the free-kick, just outside the box. He strikes for the corner but Tim Howard moves across his line smartly to get a good hand to the free-kick and make the save.
Joseph Yobo brings down Zavon Hines and goes into the book. This is a dangerous position to concede a free-kick.
Lucas Neill, the former West Ham captain, comes on for Everton in place of Dan Gosling as David Moyes looks to sure up the defence.
Another chance for Hines as a cross comes into the danger area but as it falls to the feet of the striker he rather snatches at the chance and pulls it off target.
West Ham are pressing for the equaliser here. Zavon Hines is picked out on the edge of the box and has only one thought in his mind, that is to shoot and he does but he fires just wide.
Chance for Diamante as he finds space in the box and turns towards goal before striking a shot towards the far corner but he skews it a fraction wide of the mark. Great chance to level the scores!
Johnny Heitinga goes into the book for unsporting behavior after kicking the ball away.
WEST HAM 1-2 EVERTON. Diamante crosses towards Junior Stanislas at the back post but the back peddling Tony HIBBERT turns the ball into his own net to bring West Ham back into the game! It's all happening here!
WEST HAM 0-2 EVERTON. Dan GOSLING shoots from twelve yards, Rob Green saves but the ball falls back to Gosling who steers it through the legs of the keeper to double the lead.
Parker again tries his luck from range but it is well blocked by Distin. The rebound falls for Stanislas who pulls the trigger but fires it wide of the mark.
Dimanti takes a corner short and works the ball into the feet of Scott Parker on the edge of the box and the West Ham skipper fires a shot just left of the target. A good effort and that has given the home fans a tangible lift.
Sorry for the lack of interesting update but the game really hasn't settled down at all since the break!
Yakubu enters the action in place of the goalscorer Louis Saha.
Dimanti comes on to replace Luis Jimenez for the home side.
The game has started in a very scrappy and broken up fashion with lots of free-kicks being conceded particularly by those in blue.
Marouanne Fellaini becomes the third Everton player to be cautioned after a foul on Behrami.
Tony Hibbert is booked for a foul on Hines.
Jack Collison comes off at the break to be replaced by Junior Stanislas.
The second half gets underway.
Halftime: West Ham 0-1 Everton. The halftime whistle goes and no doubt Rob Green and the Hammers defence will be pleased to have survived the barrage of corners that ended the first half. Saha's strike separates the two sides.
Jack Rodwell is cautioned for a foul on Jack Collison.
Baines swings in another Everton corner and finds Tim Cahill who volleys it goalwards but the shot is a tame one and Green easily gathers.
Dan Gosling delivers a corner from the right hand side and it finds Saha who heads for goal but sends it wide from the penalty spot. Everton won't want half-time to come now!
West Ham are lucky to escape as Dan Gosling finds space on the edge of the box and rifles a shot towards Green's goal but it rises fractionally over the bar and the lead remains 1-0.
Cahill brings down Faubert inside the Everton half and gifts Behrami the chance to swing the ball into the box - He does just that but his cross falls short and Tony Hibbert clears ahead of the incoming Upson.
Tim Cahill comes forward from the middle and crosses towards Saha from the left but he puts it too close to Rob Green and the keeper comes off his line to collect.
The play has become a little scrappy since the opener that stunned the Upton Park crowd. Scott Parker is fouled by Fellaini near the half way line in one of a series of fouls committed in the middle of the park.
How will the home side react after falling behind? Everton will be desperate to turn this lead into three points but Zola's Hammers need a result aswell.
WEST HAM 0-1 EVERTON. Tim Cahill picks out Louis SAHA on the edge of the West Ham box and the striker shifts the ball onto his left side and strikes low into the bottom corner to put the visitors ahead just shy of half an hour.
Opportunity for Jimenez to test the Everton defence from a set-piece after Hibbert fouls Franco near the touchline. Jimenez swings it in but Jack Rodwell is able to clear at the front post - poor delivery.
First notable save from Tim Howard as Scott Parker pulls the trigger from the edge of the area after a neat passing move from the home side but the effort is beaten away by the American.
Everton force a corner on the left hand side that Dan Gosling will deliver. The ball comes in swinging away from Rob Green but there is no Everton head there to meet it and the danger passes.
Everton are starting to work their way back into the game now and the midfield five are starting to see more of the ball. David Moyes will be pleased to have seen off the early Hammers pressure.
Fellaini comes forward from midfield and peels on to the flank before crossing deep for Louis Saha. The Frenchman rises well to win the header but cannot direct it on target and the chance goes begging.
Faubert comes forward from right back and crosses towards the near post. Behrami gets infront of Yobo but can only head wide of the mark from close range as West Ham dominate.
Again it's Jimenez in the thick of it as he strokes a through ball into the path of Hines once more. Hines brings it down in the box but Yobo comes across smartly to close him down and snuff out the danger.
Hines links up with Jimenez down the right and side and goes down under the challenge of Hibbert as he moved into the box but Alan Wiley waves away the protests.
Alan Wiley takes charge of the game and after a perfectly observed minute silence, the game is underway!
Dimitar Bilyaletdinov is suspended for the Toffees but Louis Saha has recovered to start. John Heitinga is also elidgible to play after being unavailbale for the defeat to Benfica midweek. Cahill and Fellaini both feature in the five man midfield.
Gianfranco Zola is without the in-form Carlton Cole so Zavon Hines will play up-front alongside Franco while Da Costa comes in to replace the injured Herta Ilunga at left-back.
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Distin, Baines, Heitinga, Gosling, Fellaini, Rodwell, Cahill, Saha
West Ham: Green, Faubert, Da Costa, Upson, Spector, Parker, Behrami, Jimenez, Collison, Franco, Hines
Hello and welcome to Upton Park, home of the Hammers who will be buoyed by their victory over Villa on Monday night. Today's opposition are the struggling Everton who haven't won in seven games in all competitions.
Everton will be hoping past results against West Ham will be repeated on Sunday as the Toffees try to end a run of six games without a win. David Moyes' side have excelled against the Hammers in recent years, winning five of the past seven meetings between the two clubs, but have found themselves in free-fall recently having looked in excellent form in September. Five consecutive wins were followed by draws at home to Stoke City and Wolves, although the 1-1 tie with Aston Villa last weekend suggested the team may have turned a corner. "I thought we had one or two opportunities but I don't think the goalies have made any saves in the game. It was tight and maybe a point was a fair result," Moyes commented after the match. "I thought we nullified Aston Villa quite well but I didn't think we were able to play our game because at this moment in time, without one or two players who might change things for us, it makes our set-up slightly different." That situation is unlikely to change any time soon, with the likes of Phil Jagielka, Phil Neville and Mikel Arteta sidelined. On a positive note, Steven Pienaar is close to a return from a knee injury and could be involved this weekend. If the South African midfielder were fit it would solve a serious problem for Moyes, who has winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov suspended for three matches following his red card against Villa - taking their absent midfielder total to six. West Ham, conversely, have an extra midfielder after Radoslav Kovac's suspension for a sending off in the 2-2 draw at Sunderland last weekend was served in midweek, while the return of Scott Parker from a suspension of his own has relegated Kovac to the bench. Much depends on Parker to hold together a team that has quietly sunk to second-bottom, having officially had their worst start to a season for 21 years, as assistant manager Steve Clarke admitted this week before the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
advertisement
Great Britain may well be celebrating the crowning of David Haye as a new boxing world champion but it was West Ham United that were knocked out by a classic Everton one-two at Upton Park. Despite dominating this contest, Gianfranco Zola's Hammers were felled by killer strikes from Louis Saha and Dan Gosling. And although Tony Hibbert's own goal gave the East Enders hope of climbing back off the ropes, the Merseysiders held on to secure a vital victory that sent West Ham crashing back into the drop-zone. The zip and zest of Zavon Hines had given the 17th-placed Hammers their first home victory of the season against Aston Villa on Wednesday evening and, after bagging the 93rd-minute winner, the England Under-21 striker kept his place after Carlton Cole (hamstring) was forced to stand down. The curse of the hamstring meant that West Ham were also without Herita Ilunga, while Mark Noble was demoted to the bench, as Jonathan Spector and Luis Jimenez earned recalls to a home side that started in positive mood. Inside the opening 25 minutes, Hines had caused the Everton defence a few uncomfortable moments, while Guillermo Franco was only a stud away from forcing home Julien Faubert's cross in at the near post and then Scott Parker weaved his way into shooting range before forcing Tim Howard to save. Following their Benfica blow-out in the Europa League on Thursday evening, 14th-placed Everton had made two changes as John Heitinga and top-scorer Saha replaced the suspended Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and substitute Yakubu. Certainly, David Moyes' Merseysiders had posed little threat to the hard-working Hammers but, as the half-hour mark approached, they surprisingly broke the deadlock, when Saha strode onto Tim Cahill's knock-down and lashed a low 20-yarder past the flat-footed Robert Green to give the visitors an interval lead with his ninth goal of the season. Zola replaced Jack Collison with Junior Stanislas for the restart and, as the Hammers again started in lively fashion, Hibbert and Marouane Fellaini followed Jack Rodwell - who had earlier been cautioned for encroachment - into referee Alan Wiley's book for fouls on Hines and Valon Behrami. As the hour-mark approached, Zola introduced Alessandro Diamanti in place of the jaded Jimenez, while Moyes brought on Yakubu for Saha and those two switches certainly saw the game spark back into life. On 64 minutes, Wiley controversially allowed Cahill's shove on Behrami to go unpunished and, when the ball broke to Gosling, he lashed home his third strike of the campaign at the far post, with his second bite of the cherry after Green had blocked his first shot with his legs. But West Ham were handed a lifeline just seconds later, when the sliding Hibbert fired his attempted goal-line clearance into the roof of the net after Diamanti's inch-perfect pass had enabled Stanislas to chip the advancing Howard. Roared on by the claret and blue fans amongst the 32,466 crowd, the Hammers went in search of an equaliser as Diamanti curled inches over the angle and Hines twice prodded wide, while Heitinga and Joseph Yobo took the Everton yellow card tally to five. Diamanti's arrival had certainly livened up proceedings and, after the Italian's 25-yard free-kick was brilliantly beaten out by Howard, former Hammers skipper Lucas Neill was given a hostile reception when he came on to help shore up a creaking Everton side that held on for their first win in eight matches.
Corners
Fouls
Goal attempts
Shots off target
Offsides
football.co.uk web