It was stalemate yesterday afternoon at the Boleyn Ground where the Hammers snatched a point from League title holders Manchester City. The game ended in a nil nil draw in which West Ham’s boss Sam Allardyce punched the air with joy after the final whistle.
The Hammers played some nice football and we could have snatched all 3 points if Nolan and Carroll had hit the target. It was a great game in which the underdogs with their limited resources and budget took on the nouveau riche of the Premier League and played one on one with them.
Ok, the class of city shone through and with their deep pockets it was hardly surprising, was it? What impressed me though was that the Hammers learnt their lesson from the Wigan game in which they showed complacency. Our boys were up for this even if it meant being beaten 3 nil!
It was West ham’s solid defense which the lads from Manchester City couldn’t get past.City never really got into their groove and tempers were high between Mancini and Balotelli when the italian was substituted – so no news there, then 🙂
After Chelsea’s faux pas and Manchester United beating North Londoners Arsenal, City find themselves in third position with the Hammers at eighth. Incidentally it was Van Persie who stuck the boot in and gave the Mancs victory over his former club. A lot of Arsenal supporters were wondering why Andre Santos decided to shirt swap with Robin Van Persie at half time, nice one.
Just after four minutes and captain Nolan had the ball in the back of the City net but was adjudged to have been in an offside position. I saw the replay and it was ever so slight – might have even been a rizzla paper’s width. Let me know your thoughts on that one!
Then it was Mo Diame’s turn to get in front of goal. The guy from Senegal had a shot from the edge of the box but was blasted over the top of Joe Hart’s net. Yossi Benayoun is steadily improving and had a nice game as I’m sure you’ll agree. He came close with a nice side footed volley that hit the crossbar.
The big Andy Carroll wanted some action too and put his shot agonisingly close to Joe Hart’s left post. Had that one gone in, it would have given the Hammers wings to go the extra mile for sure.
Ex Hammer Carlos Tevez played well for his new side but was unable to provide the form that made the difference to the scoreline.
Jussi Jaaskelainen was never really bothered by the Manchester City attack although the Finn was guilty on one occasion of being a bit of a “butter fingers” that could have let them in the back door.
Man of the match was a sublime James Collins who showed the rest of the Hammers what can be achieved with a raw blood and guts performance. Collins limped off on 84 minutes with O’Neil coming on to relieve him of duty. This is exactly the type of performance we want from the Irons – COYI
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