Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham 1 Sunderland 0: Ilan is the toast of Upton Park after firing Hammers to first win in eight
Brazilian striker Ilan is fast emerging as West Ham's unlikely saviour after he earned the relegation-threatened Hammers a vital Barclays Premier League lifeline.[LNB]The 29-year-old followed up his equaliser against Everton last weekend with the only goal against Sunderland as West Ham edged four points clear of the relegation zone.[LNB]Ilan was virtually unknown in England when Gianfranco Zola signed him from St Etienne on deadline day in January having failed to land Eidur Gudjohnsen and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.[LNB]Zola was hopeful that Ilan's first goal for the club at Goodison Park last week, when West Ham ended a miserable run of six straight defeats, would spark a turnaround in their fortunes.[LNB] Priceless: Ilan (left) fires West Ham's winner[LNB] [LNB]Ilan was promoted into the starting side and he made the tellingcontribution after 51 minutes, when he latched onto Carlton Cole'sdownward header to earn West Ham their first win in eight games.[LNB]West Ham are still far from same but this result, combined withBurnley's victory at Hull, means Zola will be breathing easier tonight.[LNB]Valon Behrami also came into the West Ham side, in place of thesuspended Scott Parker while Sunderland were unchanged following theirimpressive 3-1 win over Tottenham last week.[LNB]For 10 cagey minutes neither team was able to create an opening, with the game played almost exclusively in the middle third.[LNB]Ilan turned cleverly in the centre circle but his pass for Cole waseasily picked off while Anton Ferdinand's cross was just too high forSunderland striker Frazier Campbell[LNB]But it was the Black Cats who settled first as Steed Malbranque grew increasingly influential on the left of midfield.[LNB] Happy Hammers: West Ham hail Ilan's strike[LNB]Malbranque engineered the first threatening attack of the game as heexchanged passes with Kieron Richardson to earn Sunderland a corner -and they should have taken the lead.[LNB]West Ham defender Manuel da Costa failed to deal with Malbranque'sinswinging delivery but Campbell could not latch onto the loose ball asit ran across the six yard box and the Hammers survived.[LNB]Da Costa redeemed himself with a timely intereption as Malbranqueattempted to slide a pass through to Bent, who would have been throughon goal.[LNB]West Ham were struggling to keep Bent under control and theSunderland striker latched onto a long ball over the top but hisattempted lob over Robert Green landed on the roof of the net.[LNB]Behrami had West Ham's first shot on goal, forcing Gordon into a lowblock and Richardson was on hand to clear his lines as Junior Stanislaslooked to pounce on the rebound.[LNB]West Ham began to build pressure but Cole could not get a shot awayafter stripping David Meyler of possession and Ilan was judged to beoffside after being picked out unmarked on the edge of the box byJonathan Spector.[LNB] All smiles: West Ham are now four points clear of the relegation zone[LNB] [LNB]Lee Cattermole was booked for a late challenge on Behrami but MarkNoble's free-kick was poor and Sunderland counter-attacked, withMalbranque feeding Bent whose low strike was straight at Green.[LNB]Sunderland then received two major let-offs in the space of fiveminutes and were fortunate to reach half-time on level terms and with11 men still on the field.[LNB]Firstly, Craig Gordon was penalised for handling the ball outside ofhis area but he received only a yellow card and West Ham made a hash ofthe free-kick. [LNB]Sunderland then had Paulo da Silva to thank for a brilliantinterception inside his own box, stealing the ball from Ilan's toesafter he had been picked out by Cole.[LNB]But if Gordon had been fortunate with the hand-ball, he was theluckiest man inside Upton Park after dragging Cole to the ground insidehis box only to be saved by the whistle of referee Mike Jones.[LNB]Gordon had panicked after dropping a high ball while under pressurefrom Cole but referee Jones had already decided to penalise the WestHam striker for a foul.[LNB]When Meyler was judged to have fouled Ilan on half-way, refereeJones called Sunderland captain Michael Turner over to warn him aboutthe Black Cats' discipline.[LNB]West Ham exacted the perfect punishment. Da Costa launched thefree-kick towards Cole and Ilan latched onto the knock-down to scorehis second goal in two games.[LNB]The explosion of noise around Upton Park was as much relief as celebration. [LNB]Sunderland responded calmly, dominating possession and passing theball around to stretch West Ham and test their patience butCattermole's drive whistled just wide of Green's right-hand post.[LNB]Sunderland sent on Kenwyne Jones for Meyer and he made an immediateimpact with a driving run from midfield before sliding the ball towardsbent on the edge of the box.[LNB]The Sunderland striker took a perfect first touch to tee up the shotbut he slipped on the Upton Park turf and Green was able to scrambleout of goal and smother the ball.[LNB]There was drama right to the death. In the fourth minute of addedtime, Franco had the ball in the net and wheeled away to celebrate.[LNB]But the Mexican was judged to have controlled the ball with his left hand and the goal was disallowed.[LNB] Premier League may extend parachute payments for relegated clubsTHE FIRING LINE: Zola moves out of sticky spot ... now it's Laws in troubleWEST HAM UNITED FC
