Super-sub Ricardo Fuller stepped from the bench to make it a nightmare for West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola, as Stoke City won 1-0 at Upton Park.
Last season, Fuller was sent off for fighting with his skipper Andy Griffin at Upton Park, but this time around, despite suffering from food poisoning, he landed the killer punch on wobbling West Ham, with a brilliant individual 69th-minute winner that sent City into tenth place.
The Jamaican's seventh goal of the season left the East Enders level on points with 18th-placed Hull City, who have a game in hand on Zola's strugglers.
Ahead of this crucial contest, inconsolable co-chairman, David Sullivan, had e-mailed Hammers season ticket holders apologising for the 'pathetic showing' in Tuesday evening's lamentable loss to fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"We need this team to show us their talent, their desire, their passion, their dare," he wrote with the team languishing in 17th spot. "We need new heroes."
After such a destabilising build-up to this game, gallant Zola had already made one valiant stand by reportedly banning his boss from a pre-match team meeting.
But despite changing half his outfield team following that Wolves defeat, sadly no heroes were to emerge for the Italian, who recalled Manuel Da Costa, Kieron Dyer, Jonathan Spector, Mido and Mark Noble in place of the injured James Tomkins (ankle) plus substitutes, Alessandro Diamanti, Fabio Daprela, Benni McCarthy and Radoslav Kovac.
Following their defeat against Spurs last Saturday, Stoke made two changes as Liam Lawrence and Mamady Sidibe replaced the suspended Dean Whitehead and the benched Fuller.
Certainly those two fresh faces caused some early concerns for the Hammers.
With just five minutes on the clock, Lawrence charged down a clearance and volleyed high over from 18 yards and Sidibe saw his angled effort bundled off the line by Mido.
Abdoulaye Faye then powerfully nodded ex-Hammer Matthew Etherington's subsequent deep corner just inches wide, as the Potters set about a fragile home defence that had conceded 14 goals on its way to five successive defeats.
Although both Spector and Carlton Cole were bundled out in the heart of the City area, while Mido nodded Dyer's near-post cross high over, the visitors looked more dangerous and another Etherington corner saw Danny Higginbotham head wide.
As the first half entered its final quarter-hour, though, the pile-driving Scott Parker released Cole with an inch-perfect throughball, but the advancing Thomas Sorensen did enough to make the Hammers' top-scorer send the ball wide.
And as West Ham started to find their feet, the Stoke keeper again came to his side's rescue when he parried Cole's stinging shot but with the goal at his mercy, the stumbling Mido showed just why he is only on a reported £1,000 per week.
To the amazement of the home fans amongst the crowd of 34,564, he frustratingly failed to convert the simple rebound to leave it goalless at the break.
Zola brought on Diamanti for Dyer in time for the restart and, just moments into the second period , Dave Kitson pulled up sharply and was replaced by Tuncay, who soon saw his keeper gather 20-yarders from Parker and Cole.
Diamanti and Noble also tried their luck with wayward long-distance efforts, but just as West Ham looked like gaining the upper hand, Stoke struck the killer blow.
Having just replaced Etherington, Fuller collected Danny Collins' punt forward and danced his way past Da Costa and Matthew Upson, before brilliantly blasting past Robert Green from eight yards to break the deadlock.
Zola responded by replacing Noble with Ilan, who skied over at the far post and, after Spector sent a 25-yarder inches wide, the Hammers took one last roll of the dice as McCarthy replaced Mido.
But, alas, there was to be no way back for West Ham, who have just six games left to save their season.
Source: DSG
