Hammers in-form captain Kevin Nolan came to his team’s rescue with a late equalizer to keep the dream alive and kicking in the Premier League.
We’ve taken just a point but it could so easily have been 3 points lost if you look at it from another angle. It was Sunderland’s in-form striker Steven Fletcher who did the damage in the first half with a powerful shot that beat the claret and blue keeper Jaaskelainen.
Fletcher hit the target after just 9 minutes of play with a left-footed shot across Jaaskelainen’s goal from the left hand side and was assisted by a cross from Sebastian Larsson.
The Hammers rose up and put pressure on Sunderland and nearly had a goal out of it when a Kevin Nolan volley was majestically saved by their keeper Simon Mignolet.
On 12 minutes a fine header from West Ham defender James Collins went wide after a Vaz Té cross following a corner kick. The Hammers had and missed more chances in the first half and on 23 minutes both mark Noble and Kevin Nolan had shots blocked. Almost straight after Vaz Té had a chance of a header that went begging after a cross from Matthew Taylor. On 25 minutes Mohamed Diamé missed a chance from an assist from the captain. His right-footed shot just went wide of the post.
Nearing the half hour mark it was Sunderland’s turn to miss with a shot from James McClean that went wide after an assist by Steven Fletcher following a quick break.
On 34 minutes a Carlton Cole header went too high over the bar after a cross from Mohamed Diamé . Then it was Nolan in the mix again with a shot from close range that failed to find the marker after a headed pass from front man Carlton Cole.
In the dying stages of the first half the Hammers were all over Sunderland like a rash. First, a right footed shot from the centre of the box was saved by Simon Mignolet, then a header from Carlton Cole who was assisted by Joey O’Brien was also stopped.
The second half got underway and the Hammers kept up the pressure. On 57 minutes West Ham made two substitutions: Yossi for Vaz Té and Matthew Jarvis for Matthew Taylor.
Craig Gardner of Sunderland was shown the yellow for a nasty little foul on 60 minutes and the Hammers win a free-kick. Then it was Sunderland’s turn to sub; David Vaughan replaces Sebastian Larsson then on 71 minutes they brought on Fraizer Campbell for Stéphane Sessegnon.
The Irons were playing well but running out of options fast and sunderland looked like they had this one in the bag. On 77 minutes Sam Allardyce brought on Modibo Maiga to replace Carlton Cole. Winston Reid also picked up a yellow for a nasty foul on David Vaughan.
With the clock ticking away Modibo Maiga’s header from the centre of the box misses to the left. He was assisted by Mark Noble with a cross following a set piece.
With time now critical the Hammers’ keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen gets shown the yellow card and Sunderland use their final sub by bringing on David Meyler for Fraizer Campbell who suffered an injury.
It was like watching last season’s final at Wembley, it was too much and someone had to step up to the plate! the one to do it was West Ham’s captain fantastic Kevin Nolan! Modibo Maiga headed the ball into the path of Nolan who shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner and gave the Sunderland keeper no chance.
A close call for the Hammers with 6 minutes of extra time being played, too.
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[…] is the captain everyone expects him to be and showed the way ahead for the Irons. According to West Ham United blog It was like watching last season’s final at Wembley, it was too much and someone had to step up […]