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Beijing Guoan 0-2 West Ham United 

Friday, 31st July 2009
by Staff Writer

West Ham ended their trip to China with a win against locan side Beijing Guoan at the Worker's Stadium this morning.

Late goals from Danny Gabbidon and Zavon Hines ensured the Hammers won this third place play off against a second string Guoan side, who had sent most of their first team players home in preparation for a vital league fixture this weekend.

United started the game in similar fashion to Wednesday's disappointing defeat gainst Tottenham, but were fully deserved winners following a strong second half performance.

However Gianfranco Zola's side had to wait until the 80th minute to break the deadlock when Danny Gabbidon nodded home a Mark Noble corner. A deep cross was strongly headed back towards the bottom right hand corner by thwe Welsh centre half, playing his second successive game since returning from injury.

The win was wrapped up in the third minute of injury time when substitute Hines, on as a 79th minute replacement for Luis Jimenez picked up a through ball some 40 yards from goal before finishing expertly between the keeper's legs.

The Hammers return to England later this weekend with just one more game planned before the start of the new Premier League season - that being against Napoli at the Boleyn eight days from now.

Guoan (Guoan) picture special


A minute's silence for Sir Bobby Robson


Scott Parker does battle


Danny Gabbidon nods home the opening goal


Zavon Hines wraps it up in style


Smiles all round at the final whistle


Well done sir


* With thanks to Upton Girlie for the images

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Player Ratings

Robert Green
Untested.


Jonathan Spector
Carried on from a great performance in the Confederations Cup.


Herita Ilunga
Made some good forays into enemy territory; untested in the main defensively.


James Tomkins
Solid enough against unconvincing opponents.


Danny Gabbidon
Nice to see him back and a well taken goal to boot.


Mark Noble
Passing not at its best but held the midfield well.


Scott Parker
A decent run out for Parker who needs games under his belt more than most.


Jack Collison
A solid 70 minutes of competitive football.


Kieron Dyer
Our liveliest player on the park. With a little more composure he would have had a goal to boast about too.


Luis Jimenez
Some good touches but he will need to toughen up before testing some of the Premier League's more physical sides.


Carlton Cole
A decent show although chances were few and far between.



Substitutes

Bondz N'Gala
(Replaced Ilunga, 66 mins) Still some way from the first team but he always looks calm and composed.


Junior Stanislas
(Replaced Collison, 72 mins) A brief cameo that produced a couple of entertaining runs.


Zavon Hines
(Replaced Jimenez, 79 mins) A really well taken goal from a player enjoying his football. Not a million miles away from the first team given the current squad situation.


Josh Payne
(Replaced Parker, 79 mins) His 'horror tackle' that left his opponent writhing on the ground would have produced a straight red in domestic football. We'll put this one down to the hot weather ...


Savio Nsereko
(Replaced Dyer, 85 mins) Criminally underused on this tour, some might say. The question is 'why?'


Jordan Spence
(Replaced Noble, 90 mins) A brief run-out for a player seemingly perenially on the fringe.


Peter Kurucz
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Robert Green, Jonathan Spector, Herita Ilunga, James Tomkins, Danny Gabbidon, Mark Noble, Scott Parker, Jack Collison, Kieron Dyer, Luis Jimenez, Carlton Cole.

Goals: Danny Gabbidon 80 Zavon Hines 90                .

Booked: Josh Payne 88          .

Sent off: None.

Beijing Guoan: Sipeng, Shuang, Chulwoo, De Brito, Pu, Ke, Yifan, Dongliang, Fei, Bryan, Vogt.

Subs not used: Zhiang, Modibo, Wang, Martinez, Zhang, Tixiang.

Goals: None.

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Baojie Sun.

Attendance: 0.

Man of the Match: Kieron Dyer.