West Ham Utd 0 Blackburn Rovers 0

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 30th January 2010

The Irons blew a glorious opportunity to move clear of the relegation zone with a desperately disappointing performance against Blackburn at the Boleyn this afternoon.

Gianfranco Zola's side - playing in front of new chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold for the first time at the Boleyn Ground - mustered a paltry six efforts on goal, despite enjoying 57% of overall possession.

Yet Blackburn - who set out their stall early on, content to pick up scraps and hit the Irons on the counter - fared little better, managing only seven shots themselves in a game that was one to forget for both teams - not to mention the 33,000 crowd who braved arctic conditions to watch such substandard fare.

For once, West Ham started with a bench full of talent and options. Carlton Cole, Herita Ilunga and Scott Parker were amongst the seven selected by Zola, clearly not happy to risk any of his key players with a run of vital games to follow today's.

Sadly this was to the detriment of the starting XI who hustled and bustled but lacked the ingenuity to break down a resolute Blackburn side, who remain without a win on the road since last November.

Alessandro Diamanti went closest for United with a second half free-kick that forced a tip over from former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson - but that was a rare highlight, much to the frustration of the home crowd whose hopes had been lifted by the arrival of new owners and the subsequent comments made to the media.

West Ham - now with just four wins from 23 Premier League matches this season - rise to 15th in the table as a result of the stalemate but that is unlikely to gloss over the disappointment of such an insipid display. Yet it could have been worse, for if either side were to win the game it looked like being the visitors who created a number of half-chances as the game neared its conclusion.

After a quiet start West Ham began to take a grip on the game and enjoyed a purple patch midway through the half during which they had the visitors on the rack. Full-back Julien Faubert was proving particularly effective in advanced positions - as you would perhaps expect from a player featuring in their natural position - and delivered one particularly sublime cross that was basically just too good for Radoslav Kovac, who arrived just too late.

However it was Blackburn who went closest to breaking the deadlock through Pedersen, who although oft-criticised by his own club's supporters still retains the ability to produce a sublime moment of skill, as he did when sending a thunderous 22-yard free-kick smashing against Rob Green's crossbar on 42 minutes.

Ironically perhaps, given David Gold's '4-4-2' comments upon being unveiled as the club's new owner, it was Zola's decision to switch from his favoured 4-5-1 to Gold's 4-4-2 on the hour mark that almost proved to be United's undoing.

With the busy Kovac hauled off on 58 minutes to allow the introduction of Carlton Cole, the Irons lost a major asset and even the introduction of Scott Parker for an out-of-sorts Valon Behrami failed to prevent Blackburn profiting from West Ham's reduced midfield.

Carlton Cole was on hand to clear a Givet effort off the line before substitute Jason Robert missed a golden opportunity when he shot straight at Rob Green when clean through on goal. Steven N'Zonzie - who excelled in the air throughout - was fortunately less effective with the ball at his feet when he blasted high and wide from no more than 10 yards out.

Despite creaking at the back West Ham also had their chances before the final whistle - most notably through Scott Parker, whose slight hesitation having lost his marker inside the box allowed his opponent to shepherd the midfielder away from immediate danger.

So on the positive side, another clean sheet and a climb of one place in the table - although the Irons are now one of three teams just one point above the drop zone. On the negative, a worrying lack of creativity and yet another great chance to climb away from the danger zone wasted.

With just 48 hours left in the winter transfer window, Irons supporters will be hoping new Messrs Sullivan and Gold are working overtime to allay deepening fears of relegation.

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