Bolton brace denies Hammers

Trotters end game with 10 men but pick up three points

By James Riach   Last updated: 6th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Bolton brace denies Hammers

Wilshere: Celebrates his goal

Man of the match: Kevin Davies ran the Hammers' defence ragged and was rewarded with a fine headed goal to his name.

Goal of the match: Although it proved to be just a consolation, Alessandro Diamanti's curling effort was a wonderful strike late on.

Save of the match: Jussi Jaaskelainen produced a double save in the opening period. He palmed away a Diamanti free-kick and then tipped away a looping cross-shot.

Moment of the match: Tamir Cohen was shown a red card with less than 20 minutes of normal time remaining, but West Ham could not take advantage.

Talking point: Bolton now go above the Hammers in the league table, and Gianfranco Zola's men will be looking over their shoulders once more.

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Bolton picked up their first Premier League away win since September after triumphing 2-1 against West Ham at Upton Park.

It was manager Owen Coyle's first victory on the road in the top flight, and his side deserved it for a first-half display full of guile and creativity.

Kevin Davies led the line throughout and he scored the opener after just 10 minutes, powering Lee Chung-Yong's cross past the helpless Robert Green and into the corner.

Davies was involved in the second six minutes later, keeping the ball in play before the cross came in for Tamir Cohen, whose header down was poked home by Arsenal loanee Jack Wilshere.

Cohen was sent off in the second half for picking up two bookings, and Alessandro Diamanti pulled one back with two minutes to go after a superb curling strike, but despite Junior Stanislas rattling the crossbar in injury-time, Bolton held on.

All the pre-match statistics had pointed to a home win. Bolton had not won on their travels in six months or scored away from the Reebok Stadium in over seven hours of football.

West Ham, meanwhile, had not conceded a goal at Upton Park in four Premier League matches and boasted England duo Matthew Upson and Robert Green at the back.

But Bolton are West Ham's bogey team and turned those records upside down inside 16 minutes, helped by some calamitous home defending.

West Ham could not handle Davies' physical presence all afternoon and he put

Bolton ahead with a powerful header after rising above Julien Faubert to meet Lee's cross.

All at sea

James Tomkins was all at sea at the heart of West Ham's defence, unable to cope with Davies and Johan Elmander, and it was his mistake which gifted Bolton their second just six minutes later.

The England Under-21 international tried to shepherd the ball out of play for a goal-kick but was caught out by Davies, who clipped a cross into the box.

Cohen, in the side after Stuart Holden broke his leg in midweek, knocked the ball down to Wilshere who beat Green from close range with an acrobatic finish to become the youngest Premier League scorer of the season.

West Ham may have been poor at the back but they were lively going forward and came close with two Diamanti free-kicks from the edge of the box.

The Italian curled an early effort onto the roof of the net after Parker's surging run had been checked.

After Bolton's double strike, Paul Robinson was booked for a trip on Radoslav Kovac and Diamanti tried his luck again from a similar position.

But Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was equal to Diamanti's powerful drive and he then denied Guillermo Franco, who had pounced on the rebound.

With the Upton Park crowd growing increasingly agitated, West Ham began to lose their composure going forward.

Carlton Cole had the best chance, racing into the box to meet Scott Parker's through-ball with only Jaaskelainen to beat.

But the England striker took too many touches, allowing Sam Ricketts time to race back and execute a perfectly timed cover tackle.

Parker wasted another promising opportunity with poor control before Diamanti drilled a cross into the box but Zat Knight cleared off the line after a goalmouth scramble.

Comical

West Ham's defending was almost comical at times, drawing howls of derision from the stands.

Jonathan Spector, playing out of position at left-back, allowed Lee a free shot at the far post but the Bolton winger skewed it wide.

And a better striker than Elmander might have had a first-half hat-trick for Bolton.

The Swede saw one effort blocked by Green, he drilled another into the side netting and then squandered his best chance of the half from six yards out.

Elmander lost Tomkins in the box and was picked out by Davies' right-wing cross but, under no pressure, he sent his shot over the bar.

West Ham brought on Kieron Dyer early in the second half after Faubert strained a muscle and he almost made an immediate impact, latching onto Cole's knock-down but shooting over the bar.

Fabrice Muamba was booked for a foul on Parker to offer Diamanti a third chance from the edge of the box, but his free-kick hit the wall and bounced clear.

Bolton were reduced to 10 men just after the hour mark after Cohen collected two bookings inside nine minutes, the second for a mindless trip on the industrious Parker.

Diamanti finally created a breakthrough for West Ham, curling a neat shot past Jaaskelainen.

In a frantic finish, Davies hit the bar after a counter-attack from Knight before Stanislas rattled the woodwork.

West Ham UnitedTeam StatisticsBolton Wanderers
1Goals2
01st Half Goals2
5Shots on Target5
11Shots off Target8
5Blocked Shots4
6Corners3
13Fouls24
4Offsides1
2Yellow Cards4
0Red Cards1
72.6Passing Success58.8
15Tackles26
80Tackles Success69.2
58.7Possession41.3
49.5Territorial Advantage50.5
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