West Ham salvaged a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park to deny Blackburn caretaker boss Steve Kean a win in his first game in charge.
Stanislas earns bottom club late point at Ewood Park
West Ham salvaged a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park to deny Blackburn caretaker boss Steve Kean a win in his first game in charge.
After a week of confusion, contradictions and complication, the first half was lacking in spark.
The visitors went closest to a goal in the final five minutes of the half, with Frederic Piquionne firing his shot into the side-netting before Luis Boa Morte was denied by the legs of Paul Robinson.
Kean, who was taking charge of his first Rovers game on a caretaker basis following the shock sacking of Sam Allardyce on Monday, saw his side take the lead against relegation-threatened West Ham six minutes into the second half.
Rovers defender Ryan Nelsen's initial close-range strike was superbly parried by fourth-choice Hammers keeper Ruud Boffin but the defender bundled home the loose ball with his knee to give the hosts the lead.
Rovers were looking to make it four home league victories in a row against the league's bottom club, who had not won away all season.
Hammers boss Avram Grant, who had faced another week of speculation about his future at Upton Park, was rewarded for a change in tactics with the equaliser after Matthew Upson had struck the post.
However, Junior Stanislas earned the visitors a priceless point with 12 minutes of the match remaining.
The inspirational Scott Parker deflected pass fell into the path of Stanislas who found the bottom corner with a calm but ruthless finish for a share of the points.
The point was not enough to lift West Ham off the bottom of the table but they did close to within two points of Wolves.
Reward
Staff at Ewood Park had spent all morning clearing the pitch, stands and surrounding areas of snow and their efforts were rewarded as the match was the only one of the scheduled 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League to go ahead.
Grant was forced into a change in goal after Robert Green underwent a minor operation to remove a cyst earlier this week, meaning a West Ham debut for 23-year-old Belgian Boffin.
It was the first time Green had failed to start a league game for the Hammers for almost four years, and Grant's problems continued to mount before kick-off as Valon Behrami, who had been a doubt, was replaced by Jonathan Spector at the 11th hour.
The first half was a poor spectacle, with Blackburn's bright start petering out and West Ham managing only sporadic bursts forward.
The first decent opening did not arrive until the 41st minute as Boa Morte played in Piquionne on the left of the area but the striker fired his effort towards the near post and into the side-netting.
West Ham were by then looking quite dangerous and moments later it was Boa Morte on the end of a through-ball. This time he did find the target, forcing Robinson into a good block.
Half-time came at the right time for Rovers, who had a new energy about them in the second half and soon gained the lead.
A shot from the lively Mame Biram Diouf was deflected behind by James Tomkins and, from the resulting corner, the ball was cleared to Brett Emerton wide on the right.
The Australian did brilliantly to work space for a cross, which caused havoc in the West Ham penalty area. Poor defending saw the ball drop to Benjani Mwaruwari three yards out only for the striker to completely miss his kick.
Waiting was Nelsen, though, and, after his first effort was superbly saved by Boffin, the Rovers captain forced the ball inside the right post off his thigh.
It was tough luck on the rookie goalkeeper, who did all he could but was let down by the men in front of him. Grant responded by bringing on Carlton Cole and Stanislas for Pablo Barrera and Spector, while for Rovers injury saw Christopher Samba replaced by Phil Jones.
Cole was immediately involved, appealing unsuccessfully for a penalty after a challenge by Gael Givet and then poking his shot wide under pressure from Jones following good work by Kieron Dyer.
That proved to be the last involvement for Jones, though, as he limped off barely 10 minutes after coming on, with teenager Grant Hanley given his chance by Kean.
Wrath
Blackburn and referee Mike Dean earned the wrath of the West Ham fans when they failed to put the ball out after Upson went down clutching his face, and in the 71st minute the Hammers defender almost took revenge in the best possible way.
This time it was the Rovers defence that did not deal with a cross but Upson curled his shot against the outside of a post. The Hammers created another decent opening moments later, Piquionne heading Stanislas' corner over the bar.
They certainly deserved an equaliser, and 12 minutes from time they got one.
Parker, so often at the heart of West Ham's best moments, drove into the box and Givet could only divert the ball into the path of Stanislas, who smashed his shot into the far right corner.
Blackburn had been poor but they upped their level again and thought they had gone straight back in front only for David Dunn to be denied by an offside flag.
Both sides pushed for a winner and Morten Gamst Pedersen almost caught out Boffin with an audacious 40-yard free-kick, while the Norwegian had the final chance with another set-piece from the edge of the area but sent his shot just the wrong side of the far left post.
| Blackburn Rovers |
Team Statistics |
West Ham United |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 10 |
Corners |
4 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
6 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73 |
Passing Success |
72.5 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
14 |
| 63.2 |
Tackles Success |
85.7 |
| 52.7 |
Possession |
47.3 |
| 54.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.2 |
|
