West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was a relieved manager as his team picked up their first home win of the campaign in thrilling 4-3 defeat of ten-man Portsmouth. Pompey skipper Liam Lawrence saw red for a second bookable offence.
Mark Noble's penalty and a Cole strike put the Hammers firmly back in control, meaning the stoppage time red card for Frederic Piquionne and Greg Halford's penalty did not affect the outcome.
"There was an awful lot of entertainment from both sides today," Allardyce said.
"It was an open attacking game from both sides, it ebbed and flowed and then we finally finished it off after Portsmouth sending saw Lawrence sent off for jumping in.
"That turned the game in our favour and we netted two very good goals.
"We were disappointed we conceded the second on the break as the midfield didn't do their job and we got caught out.
"But it was an excellent victory and it has been a while coming.
"It is our third home game and we've played well.
"The opposition played well against us as they all do here so it made for a very entertaining game.
"And we got what we wanted, which was the right result."
Portsmouth chief Steve Cotterill was disappointed to leave east London without anything to show for his side's efforts.
"I think we were the better club today," he said.
"To come to a great club like West Ham, a full house, a great place to play your football and I thought we did that well.
"I thought we were really good today and very, very unfortunate not to get three points.
"I thought the referee was very pernickety today with a few things."
