It wasn’t exactly a crunch match and the Hammers could have even got one over the Toffies if it weren’t for the ref. I still can’t believe he made Carlton Cole walk after his tackle in which the Everton player got straight back up. It may have been better to stay down on the deck as it would have made for some great commentary but the Carlton Cole sending off was just farcical. It was like watching something from the Benny Hill show (those that can remember anyway). I was expecting clowns to run amok on the pitch or something!
Ok, so we lost in a very controversial game in which 2 red cards were dished out. One was a complete mistake and the other one was to say sorry to West Ham. The Everton side started off well and got into their groove early on with West Ham looking a bit out of sorts.
The Hammers received a wake up call when Leon Osman scored from 6 yards with a guided header from a corner, only to see it ruled off for a foul on the Jussi. From then on West Ham woke up and found first gear.
Both James Collins and Winston Reid were the Irons’ pillars of strength at the back and did a good job of preventing any unwanted Everton players from creeping into the box. Both sides tried to attack going in the break but it was West Ham with 14 minutes on the clock via Carlton Cole that managed to break the deadlock.
The second saw much of the same with West Ham starting out slowly like the first half. What I don’t understand is how a physically big side like West Ham United can let Everton’s Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman, who stand at 5ft 7in and 5ft 8in respectively get the better of them . No wonder David Moyes was all luvvy dovey after the match when he said:
“Leon Osman — if ever there was an England player, that was him out there today.
He was top notch. He turned on the ball and dribbled past people. He and Steven were excellent but Osman was on a different level.
“Our football was magic today. Even in the first half. So much so that at half-time I couldn’t really think of much to change.
“All we were lacking were shots on target and goals scored. My players showed great character to come back the way they did because you need it to do so against one of Big Sam’s teams.”
With 2o minutes gone of the second half Everton warned the Hammers that they meant business with a goal by Victor Anichebe. Steven Pienaar’s delicate cross from the left that found the head of Anichebe to flick it past a stranded Jaaskelainen from 6 yards out.
That should have been the writing on the wall but the Hammers took no note. To West Ham’s defense I would say that the Hammers were gradually getting into the game more and i thought they were likely to score the winner. That was until on the 67th minute when the ref saw red.
Cole sending off
Ref Anthony Taylor of Cheshire, to the amazement of the 35,000 crowd at the Boleyn, sent off Carlton Cole for a rash challenge. It was little more than a yellow card and a slap on the wrist for a “possible dangerous challenge”. That my friends, changed the course of the game completely and left Everton to run riot with their two super midgets.
Seven minutes after the Cole sending off, Osman cleverly spotted Pienaar advancing and cut the ball back for his team-mate to tap it in from six yards out and thus score the winner. To be fair to Fulham, if Carlton Cole had been on the pitch he wouldn’t have been anywhere near to stop either Osman nor Pienaar from slotting the ball home. So really the Carlton Cole sending off didn’t influence too much Everton’s winner.
West Ham could have equalised but messed up with chances from sub Maiga and captain Kevin Nolan going begging in the dying moments of the game. I expected Nolan to do more but it wasn’t happening for the skipper – a bad day at the horses I’m guessing.
