FA Premiership
West Ham United 2-0 Sunderland 

Saturday, 4th February 2006
by Gordon Thrower

What a difference 10 months makes. There we were last year convinced that a 2-1 home defeat to the Mackems had all but knackered our chances of a play-off spot whilst our opponents celebrated into the night having clinched the Championship trophy. Fast forward to the present and while, we’re all basking in the afterglow of having just turned over Arsenal at the library, Sunderland are probably wishing they could press a fast-forward button of their own as far as this season is concerned.



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Player Ratings

Shaka Hislop
Largely unemployed for most of the match. I was tempted to pop down and see if he wanted to borrow my coat.


Lionel Scaloni
A tentative start ?EUR" unsurprising really given that he?EUR(TM)s probably only had two days training. Settled down and put some tantalising crosses in. Sterner tests are to come.


Paul Konchesky
A nice gentle match after Wednesday night?EUR(TM)s battle. He?EUR(TM)ll probably sit down in 30 years time and regale his family with tales of how his 35-yard screamer burst the back of the net!


Anton Ferdinand
Like the rest of the defence he was able to have a bit of a rest for much of the match.


Danny Gabbidon
Dealt with what little Sunderland produced in his usual accomplished style.


Hayden Mullins
The usual solid performance. Probably single-handedly responsible for breaking up what few breaks that Sunderland were able to muster.


Nigel Reo-Coker
At the heart of most of what was created. Continually pushing forward in an attempt to stir things up.


Yossi Benayoun
Occasional glimpses of flair but we required more of his creativity to break down the ten men.


Matthew Etherington
Having a much better second half of the season than he did the first. Confidence is up at the moment.


Bobby Zamora
A couple of nice touches early on but Bobby seemed to be suffering the effects of his midweek efforts more than most.


Dean Ashton
Had a better second half. The introduction of Sheringham meant that he was no longer plying the same channels as Bobby and he put away the goal well.



Substitutes

Teddy Sheringham
(Replaced Zamora, 45) A couple of nice touches but rarely troubled the Sunderland defence.


Marlon Harewood
(Replaced Mullins, 73) Made all the difference. Ran at the opposition, a tactic that caused all sorts of problems. Disgracefully denied a goal by the officials, his hard work provided the all-important breakthrough for Ashton.


Christian Dailly
(Replaced Ashton, 83) Only on for a few minutes at the end so not much time to influence things.


Stephen Bywater
Did not play.


Yaniv Katan
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Shaka Hislop, Lionel Scaloni, Paul Konchesky, Anton Ferdinand, Danny Gabbidon, Hayden Mullins, Nigel Reo-Coker, Yossi Benayoun, Matthew Etherington, Bobby Zamora, Dean Ashton.

Goals: Dean Ashton 81 Paul Konchesky 87                .

Booked: Lionel Scaloni 51          .

Sent Off: None sent off.     .

Sunderland: Davis; Wright, McCartney, Breen, Caldwell; Lawrence, Whitehead, Bassila, Arca; Kyle, Le Tallec.

Subs not used: Murphy, Leadbitter.

Goals: .

Booked: None booked..

Sent off: None.

Referee: R.Styles.

Attendance: 34,745.

Man of the Match: Marlon Harewood.