Source: Telegraph
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 West Ham United 1: match report
Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United, the Premier League's bottom two sides, fittingly shared the modest spoils but remain exactly where they started after an entertaining stalemate.[LNB]The home side avoided any further rough-play controversies but a little more steel in the second half might have secured a much-needed victory. Instead, West Ham, trailing to Matt Jarvis' sweet volley strike at the break, hit back to earn a point through Mark Noble's emphatically-struck penalty.[LNB]Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 West Ham United 2: match reportThere was little doubt that West Ham were more entitled to be pleased with their afternoon's work following a much-improved second-half showing. After losing their first four games, Avram Grant's side have now gone a mirror-image four league matches without defeat.[LNB]'We could easily have won the game,' said Grant, and indeed they would have had referee Mark Clattenburg not contentiously ruled out Frederic Piquionne's goal for handball in added time. To add insult to injury, the incredulous West Ham forward received a yellow card for his protestations.[LNB]Wolves, however, have not won a league match since the opening day, and with Chelsea, the two Manchester sides and Arsenal their next four opponents, a hard winter looms in the black and gold corner of the West Midlands.[LNB]Yet Mick McCarthy's men could scarcely have made a better start, moving smoothly in front in the 10th minute. Wolverhampton were attacking in numbers and when the ball was worked across goal by first Jarvis and then Matt Jones, Stephen Ward dropped in a cross that West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green could only punch as far as Jarvis, who volleyed home from 10 yards.[LNB]West Ham, missing Matthew Upson with a neck problem, offered little in the first half, but that changed swiftly after the break. Victor Obinna suddenly burst down Wolves' right flank and was hauled down just inside the penalty area by Kevin Foley. Clattenburg pointed to the spot and Noble lashed a 54th-minute leveller high into the Wolves net.[LNB]'It was a harsh decision, a soft penalty,' Wolves manager Mick McCarthy said. 'But we have to kill the game when we have the opportunity.'[LNB]Suddenly it was all very different and Wolves appeared frozen as Piquionne left the home crossbar quivering with a well-struck effort from 20 yards before Kieron Dyer and Obinna went close in quick succession.[LNB]Grant's bullish intent was clear when he brought on Carlton Cole with 15 minutes remaining, the big striker almost grabbing all three points but failing to connect cleanly when well-placed in the closing stages.[LNB]
