Source: Telegraph
West Ham United 1 Sunderland 0: match report
West Ham United moved closer to Premier League safety and, in the process, condemned Portsmouth to the Championship. [LNB]Portsmouth's inevitable fate was confirmed but, for West Ham, the victory could prove crucial. [LNB]Ilan, the Brazilian signed until the end of the season, scored the important goal that earned West Ham their first win in eight games and offered hope, finally, of avoiding relegation. [LNB]Last weekend Ilan scored the late equaliser at Everton to earn West Ham a vital draw, and today he was the claret and blue hero again. [LNB]The atmosphere was tense throughout and when Sunderland forced the first chance, after 11 minutes, the home fans feared the worst. [LNB]Steed Malbranque's corner fell invitingly to Kieran Richardson but the one-time West Ham academy player completely miss-hit his effort. [LNB]West Ham responded quickly with Valon Behrami's low, hard shot testing Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, with the Scot stretching to push the effort clear. [LNB]But Gordon erred soon afterwards when his clearance was struck straight at Carlton Cole, striking the West Ham forward in the back of the head. [LNB]Another effort, from Radoslav Kovac, flew high over the Sunderland bar as West Ham laboured, and their fans became so frustrated when their calls for manager Gianfranco Zola to 'give us a wave' were ignored that they turned to Steve Bruce for recognition - and were also blanked. [LNB]In the 25th minute Cole had a chance to give West Ham the lead but he hesitated and his effort was blocked. [LNB]Sunderland's Lee Cattermole was booked for a robust challenge on Behrami but, after West Ham wasted the resultant free kick, Sunderland counter-attacked at speed, but Fraizer Campbell hit his shot straight at a grateful Robert Green. [LNB]West Ham defender Jonathan Spector was also booked soon afterwards before Gordon was shown a yellow card for handling just outside his area. [LNB]The frustration continued for the home side when Cole set up Ilan but the Brazilian hesitated and his shot was smothered by former West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand. [LNB]And shortly before half time Cole challenged Green, fell under his weight and called for a penalty only for referee Mike Jones to award a free-kick to Sunderland. [LNB]The second half began in similarly frustrating fashion with Manuel da Costa sending a free-kick high into the Bobby Moore Stand. [LNB]However, the game turned West Ham's way in the 51st minute when another free-kick from da Costa was nodded down by Cole and finished by Ilan, for his second goal in a week and third for the club. [LNB]Cole came close to a second when he just failed to meet a cross from Mark Noble. [LNB]But, in the 64th minute, Darren Bent wasted the chance to equalise. Kenwyne Jones, who had just come on for Sunderland, fed Bent but his legs gave way like a Grant National faller with the ball rolling to safety. [LNB]Before the end Green made an outstanding save, from Jordan Henderson, to earn West Ham their most valuable win of the season. [LNB]Confusion ensued before the end when substitute Guillermo Franco scored what everybody believed was a second goal but it was disallowed for hand-ball as he controlled.[LNB]
