Saturday 30 March 2013

Hammers win

         
   West Ham were playing on home turf for the first time since the confirmation of their move away from the Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium.When Carroll rose above the West Brom defence to head the ball past a helpless Ben Foster, Jaaskelainen's save was put into context, and Mohamed Diame went close to doubling the lead seconds later with a rasping shot that tore past a static Foster to go just over the bar.Maintaining their Premier League status between now and August 2016 is of the utmost importance, and three of the five points Sam Allardyce had targeted from their remaining nine games would go a long way to allaying any nagging fears of a swift return to the Championship.Matt Jarvis shot over from close range, but West Ham did add to their lead on 28 minutes through a rapid counter-attack from a West Brom corner. Vaz Te teased the West Brom defence before finding O'Neil, who looped the ball across and beyond Foster with a sublime finish.A lively start saw both sides exchange chances before Carroll did open the scoring. Ricardo Vaz Te wasted an opening when he lashed a volley to the right of the post, and West Brom saw a goal rightfully disallowed when Gareth McAuley bundled the ball in at a corner, having collided with Jussi Jaaskelainen in the process.The arrival of Peter Odemwingie, booed by some West Brom fans for his recent Twitter outburst, upped the Baggies' tempo and the home fans were becoming anxious when Carroll settled the match with a moment of outstanding skill.The home keeper then made a brilliant save that doubled in value shortly afterwards. Romelu Lukaku's free-kick took a deflection that wrong-footed the former Bolton veteran, but he flung out his right hand to touch the ball onto the post and back into his hands.

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