Barclays Premier League: Birmingham City vs West Ham Main Highlights Video, Match Report, Goal Videos
Played at Venue: St Andrews Stadium Date: Saturday 12 December
Birmingham City vs West Ham Match Report
Lee Bowyer's career has had many ups and downs, but he again emerged as Birmingham City's star man with another goalscoring performance which plunged West Ham into the bottom three.
Bowyer, given a free transfer by the Hammers only last January, cashed in with another quality performance to keep the Blues in the top eight.
He was obviously keen to make an impact against his old club and it was a story-book occasion when he notched Birmingham's 51st minute winner and his sixth goal of the season.
It was another disappointing match for West Ham who even had Mark Noble sent off for a second booking in the second period.
High-flying Birmingham, with the best home defensive record in the Premier League, maintained their unbeaten record which they stretched to seven games when they recorded their first home win over the Irons since 1985.
West Ham may have gone into the game unbeaten in their last five encounters with City, but they failed to maintain their record despite a barnstorming finish when they laid siege on the opposition's defence.
The Hammers, without an away win since their opening day success at Wolves, had little luck in their bid to change this dismal record on what was manager Gianfranco Zola's 50th Premier League in charge of the Londoners.
Birmingham's bright start was emphasised by Roger Johnson going close to giving them an early lead when his header from Seb Larsson's corner was blocked by goalkeeper Robert Green.
This early pressure, however, failed to produce a much needed goal and West Ham worked their way back into the game with Alessandro Diamanti twice going close with shots from just outside the area.
These efforts encouraged Junior Stanislas to try his luck and he also tested Joe Hart with a long-range effort which illustrated West Ham's attacking aspirations.
Diamanti, who collected a yellow card for pulling back Benitez, was still the Hammers dangerman with a clever chip which went just wide at the start of the second period.
The stalemate was broken six minutes into the second half when Bowyer scored the vital opening goal against his old club.
Benitez collected a loose ball and fed a pass into the path of Bowyer who coolly slotted home his sixth goal of the season.
The game should have been put well beyond West Ham's reach when Liam Ridgewell failed to convert a Larsson free-kick from close range.
This failure very nearly proved costly as Kieron Dyer hit the post a minute after replacing Guillermo Franco.
Another blatant miss by Cameron Jerome enabled West Ham to remain in the game, but Birmingham held on grimly for their win.
51:29 GOAL - Lee Bowyer:(Birmingham 1 - 0 West Ham) Benitez holds off a challenge and plays through BOWYER who eases a shot past a helpless Green
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola on the game and Mark Noble's dismissal:
"At least one point would have been fair for us, so I'm disappointed because it's bad for us - we should be picking up points and we don't get them - I'm very disappointed.
"The ref took a day off (for the sending off) - I don't understand sometimes, before there were some free-kicks not given, now everything is given. Refs feel under pressure and they make mistakes, but today he wasn't good enough.
"We're certainly not getting anything, but we must create our own luck. I can't really blame anybody because the players gave everything, but we need to carry on working and things will change."
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish:
"I have to look at the table twice to make sure I'm not dreaming - we've scaled the heights and we'd love to able to stay there.
"We know we face tough challenges ahead if we can play to high levels.
"We've got over losing sucker goals. There's much more toughness and if the guys can put one away at the other end, the defenders are pretty trustworthy."
Played at Venue: St Andrews Stadium Date: Saturday 12 December
Former West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer gave Birmingham their fourth straight win after a lively encounter that sent the Hammers back into the drop zone.
Birmingham City vs West Ham Match Report
Lee Bowyer's career has had many ups and downs, but he again emerged as Birmingham City's star man with another goalscoring performance which plunged West Ham into the bottom three.
Bowyer, given a free transfer by the Hammers only last January, cashed in with another quality performance to keep the Blues in the top eight.
He was obviously keen to make an impact against his old club and it was a story-book occasion when he notched Birmingham's 51st minute winner and his sixth goal of the season.
It was another disappointing match for West Ham who even had Mark Noble sent off for a second booking in the second period.
High-flying Birmingham, with the best home defensive record in the Premier League, maintained their unbeaten record which they stretched to seven games when they recorded their first home win over the Irons since 1985.
West Ham may have gone into the game unbeaten in their last five encounters with City, but they failed to maintain their record despite a barnstorming finish when they laid siege on the opposition's defence.
The Hammers, without an away win since their opening day success at Wolves, had little luck in their bid to change this dismal record on what was manager Gianfranco Zola's 50th Premier League in charge of the Londoners.
Birmingham's bright start was emphasised by Roger Johnson going close to giving them an early lead when his header from Seb Larsson's corner was blocked by goalkeeper Robert Green.
This early pressure, however, failed to produce a much needed goal and West Ham worked their way back into the game with Alessandro Diamanti twice going close with shots from just outside the area.
These efforts encouraged Junior Stanislas to try his luck and he also tested Joe Hart with a long-range effort which illustrated West Ham's attacking aspirations.
Diamanti, who collected a yellow card for pulling back Benitez, was still the Hammers dangerman with a clever chip which went just wide at the start of the second period.
The stalemate was broken six minutes into the second half when Bowyer scored the vital opening goal against his old club.
Benitez collected a loose ball and fed a pass into the path of Bowyer who coolly slotted home his sixth goal of the season.
The game should have been put well beyond West Ham's reach when Liam Ridgewell failed to convert a Larsson free-kick from close range.
This failure very nearly proved costly as Kieron Dyer hit the post a minute after replacing Guillermo Franco.
Another blatant miss by Cameron Jerome enabled West Ham to remain in the game, but Birmingham held on grimly for their win.
51:29 GOAL - Lee Bowyer:(Birmingham 1 - 0 West Ham) Benitez holds off a challenge and plays through BOWYER who eases a shot past a helpless Green
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola on the game and Mark Noble's dismissal:
"At least one point would have been fair for us, so I'm disappointed because it's bad for us - we should be picking up points and we don't get them - I'm very disappointed.
"The ref took a day off (for the sending off) - I don't understand sometimes, before there were some free-kicks not given, now everything is given. Refs feel under pressure and they make mistakes, but today he wasn't good enough.
"We're certainly not getting anything, but we must create our own luck. I can't really blame anybody because the players gave everything, but we need to carry on working and things will change."
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish:
"I have to look at the table twice to make sure I'm not dreaming - we've scaled the heights and we'd love to able to stay there.
"We know we face tough challenges ahead if we can play to high levels.
"We've got over losing sucker goals. There's much more toughness and if the guys can put one away at the other end, the defenders are pretty trustworthy."
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