Bolton misery for Hammers

Bolton continued their home hoodoo over West Ham to upset the form book with a 2-1 win on Saturday.

Taylor and Davies do the damage despite Hammers fightback

Bolton continued their home hoodoo over West Ham to upset the form-book with a 2-1 win on Saturday. Going into the fixture, Gianfranco Zola's Hammers were tipped as firm favourites having lost just once in seven games while Gary Megson's Trotters ironically held a reverse set of results with just one win in seven league outings. But the pre-match predictions went out of the window with just 10 minutes gone when Matthew Taylor scored his seventh goal of the season courtesy of a brilliant free-kick. If West Ham were caught cold by their opponents, they were well and truly shell-shocked when Kevin Davies doubled Bolton's lead a minute later with a great finish from Johan Elmander's assist. There was more misery for the visitors in the 15th minute when James Collins was stretchered off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. He was replaced by James Tomkins. The Hammers then sparked into life with David Di Michele looking brightest, if not potent, as Zola's men tried to get back into the game. And the breakthrough came in the second half through, man of the match, Scott Parker's industrious finish on 66 minutes. But try as they might, West Ham could not find a second as their winless run at the Reebok Stadium continues and their unbeaten away record which stood since October comes crumbling to an end.

Response

The match begun with Bolton starting positively, most likely a response from the defeat to Everton, and the Trotters got off to the best start possible from a delightful Taylor set-piece. With the ball right in the midfielders hitting zone, the 27-year-old did what he does best and found the Robert Green's top left corner. It was double-trouble for the Hammers when Bolton's club captain Davies made it 10 for the season with 11 minutes gone. Elmander, back in the side after a four-match absence with a hamstring injury, showed neat footwork to carve out an opening for his industrious strike partner, who has reached double figures for the first time. West Ham were anxious to get back in the game before half-time and Di Michele found space at the back post 14 minutes later but dragged his effort wide. They launched a swift counter-attack seven minutes afterwards when Carlton Cole released Mark Noble with a delightful through ball. Noble was clear on goal but instead opted to try to find a team-mate. It proved to be the wrong call as Gary Cahill was able to make the clearance with a degree of comfort. Then Di Michele scampered clear and drew Jussi Jasskelainen out of his goal but his finish was dreadful, the ball missing the target by a distance. The Hammers kept up the pressure and Cole got into a good position in the penalty area but his effort failed to trouble Jaaskelainen. West Ham almost pulled a goal back two minutes into the second half when Taylor cleared Cole's effort off the line after Tomkins had headed the ball on. Bolton hit back and Taylor tested Green after Jlloyd Samuel had launched the ball forward.

Reward

West Ham got their reward midway in the second half when Parker scored after timing his run to perfection to get on the end of a cross from Jonathon Spector. It was no more than the visitors deserved for the work they had put in after conceding two goals in the first 11 minutes. Now it was Bolton's turn to look vulnerable. West Ham maintained the momentum and Cahill cleared off the line from Di Michele's effort. There was another scare for Bolton in the 82nd minute when Jaaskelainen spilled a header from Cole, only to recover just in time. West Ham were running the show but ran out of time and slumped to their first defeat on the road in the Premier League in eight games. It was little wonder manager Zola looked a picture of bewilderment at the end of the game.

Bolton Wanderers	Team Statistics	West Ham United
2	Goals	1
2	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	9
5	Shots off Target	9
2	Blocked Shots	5
4	Corners	13
19	Fouls	15
0	Offsides	7
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
62.5	Passing Success	73.7
23	Tackles	29
69.6	Tackles Success	82.8
37.7	Possession	62.3
45.5	Territorial Advantage	54.5