Match report
West Ham United 0 Manchester City 0
A masterclass in defending from Sam Allardyce’s team yesterday gained
West Ham a thoroughly well-deserved point against Premier League champions
Manchester City, yesterday evening at the Boleyn Ground.
The Irons could even have taken all three points, had skipper Kevin
Nolan’s early strike not been ruled offside- incorrectly, later replays
suggested. However, a point from the champions is no mean feat and it is
testament to the solid defensive framework and organisation that Allardyce has
brought to the club.
The last time that West Ham drew
0-0 with Saturday’s opponents was the first home match of the 2002/2003 season-
which of course, ultimately ended in tears for the Hammers. That game summed up
our entire season, and the point we gained there was less to do with any sound
defending on our part and more to do with newly-promoted City’s woeful
finishing. There could not be more of a contrast between that game and the next
0-0 draw between the two sides, ten years down the line.
United defended resolutely throughout against a multi-million pound
strikeforce- so much so, that the ever-unpredictable City hitman Mario
Balotelli was virtually eliminated from the game and resorted to skulking about
the pitch like a child deprived of his favourite comic, until his manager
substituted him halfway through the second half. The whole team managed that
rarest of feats in modern football: defending as a unit, and there was much to
be pleased about in the way that our boys pulled together. Particularly notable
performances came from often maligned right back Joey O’Brien and right winger
Matt Jarvis- the latter producing much of our attacking threat. Had it not been
for a poor decision by the linesman four minutes in, the Irons could have been
in what would have been classed as dreamland in previous years, but under Big
Sam, what is simply the type of result we expect to get.
It was not as if City were lacking attacking threat; former Iron Carlos
Tevez (who received a rapturous reception from the Boleyn Ground crowd as
always and enacted his trademark ‘crossed hammers’ sign) and the brooding
Balotelli constantly hustled and harried the Hammers’ back four. However,
unlike the 3-1 home defeat to the visitors last time out against them at Upton
Park, the verb ‘terrorised’ was not one being used in any match report on
Sunday morning.
The effect of Andy Carroll is also still growing. Whilst the big striker’s
critics can point to his poor recent scoring record in the Premier League (2
goals in his last 33 matches), they cannot deny the positive effect he has upon
our frontline. Manchester City can boast arguably the strongest defence in the
country but Kolo Toure, Kompany and co never looked entirely comfortable when
confronted with the pony-tailed Geordie, who was unfortunate not to score with
a clever bicycle kick after using his physical presence to create space for the
effort.
Hammers keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was, in actual fact, rarely tested by
the City attack, such was the excellence of the defensive display going on in
front of him- and when he was, he looked nothing other than completely
comfortable and in total control. The most pleasing thing about the whole
performance was the strong yet inflexible structure of the team- when Gary O’Neil
came on to replace Momo Diame and Carlton Cole entered the fray for Carroll,
the team completely retained its shape and the substitutes fitted seamlessly
into the roles of the players which they had replaced.
In the end, City had no answer to
the claret and blue brick wall and had to settle for a point which made the
home support a lot happier than the travelling Blues.
Report by Alex Shilling
Line ups
WEST HAM UNITED: Jaaskelainen; Reid, McCartney, Collins (Spence ’84), O’Brien;
Noble, Jarvis, Benayoun, Noble, Diame (O’Neill ’71); Carroll (Cole ’77)
Subs: Spiegel, Spence, Chambers, O’Neill, Cole, Maiga, Hall
MANCHESTER CITY: Hart; Kompany, Clichy, K Toure, Nastasic; Nasri
(Sinclair ’90), Barry, Y Toure, Dzeko, Tevez (Garcia ’84); Balotelli (Aguero ’69)
Subs: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Sinclair, Garcia, Razak, Aguero
Attendance: 35,005
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