Source: Telegraph
West Ham United 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0: match report
On the day Robert Green admitted to turning to the club's chaplain to help him through his troubles, the goalkeeper proved to be the answer to West Ham United's prayers with a superb display in the victory over Tottenham Hotspur. [LNB]Frederic Piquionne scored the game's only goal, in the 29th minute, but it was Green who did most to keep out Spurs, who were well below their best. Green, heavily criticised after his error for England against the USA at the World Cup, made three superb saves to show why he was so highly rated in the first place. [LNB]And it allowed West Ham to record their first Premier League win of the season, following their Carling Cup victory at Sunderland in midweek. [LNB]Avram Grant sprang a surprise by relegating Carlton Cole to the substitutes' bench, preferring to play Nigerian striker Victor Obinna alongside Piquionne in attack, and the move worked as West Ham took the game to Spurs from the start. [LNB]Tottenham had a makeshift defence, with four central defenders unavailable, meaning Vedran Corluka had to play an unfamiliar role in the middle of the back four. [LNB]The Croatian had a torrid time as the movement of Piquionne and power of Obinna pulled Tottenham's backline apart, and West Ham created numerous openings before they took they finally took the lead. Obinna, Piquionne and Kieron Dyer all had shots saved by Carlo Cudicini, as West Ham dominated the first half. [LNB]In response, Tottenham were restricted to shooting from long range, and when they did find the target, they also found Green in outstanding form. The West Ham keeper, produced three great saves to deny Spurs in the opening half alone. [LNB]First he punched away a stinging 30-yard shot from Jermaine Jenas in the 15th minute. [LNB]He then tipped away a fierce drive from Rafael van der Vaart that was heading for the top corner of goal in the 21st minute, but produced an even better save five minutes before half-time, tipping a stinging volley from Luka Modric on to the bar and scrambling the loose ball clear. [LNB]Modric then set up Van der Vaart for a close-range header that Green did well to keep out, but by then West Ham were ahead. [LNB]It was Piquionne who finally made the breakthrough in the 29th minute. Dyer won a corner after a quick break out of defence, and Mark Noble's kick found Piquionne, who rose above his marker to plant a header into the far corner of goal. [LNB]Peter Crouch headed over in first-half stoppage time, but it was West Ham who took a deserved lead into the break. [LNB]The second-half continued in the same vein, with Tottenham playing some neat football without producing a real goal threat, while West Ham were more direct and dangerous. [LNB]Obinna powered through in the 65th minute to hit a shot off the ground that Cudicini did well to tip away, and when Cole replaced Piquionne soon afterwards, the England striker lashed a first-time shot just wide of the near post. [LNB]Cudicini then did well to tip over a piledriver from Noble that took a deflection en route to goal. [LNB]The keeper was lucky though five minutes later after the ball fell into his hands following an almighty goalmouth scramble. [LNB]Harry Redknapp, who had not lost in ten previous games against his former side, went for broke in the final stages, sending on strikers Robbie Keane, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovanni Dos Santos as late substitutes, but to no avail as West Ham held on for their first league win of the season. [LNB]
