West Ham United have moved out of the bottom three on the Premier League table with a comfortable 3-0 win over Stoke City at Upton Park this afternoon.
First-half goals from Demba Ba and Manuel da Costa set up the victory for the Hammers who were served by a Thomas Hitzlsperger special late in proceedings to grab their second win on the trot, extending their unbeaten run to three.
The loss was Stoke's third in their past four matches, making their last six away fixtures all losses and pushing them back down to 12th.
West Ham United: 3 (Demba Ba 21', Manuel da Costa 29', Thomas Hitzlsperger 83') Stoke City: 0
Venue: Upton Park, East London Crowd: 33,066 Referee: Andre Marriner Yellow cards:WHU - nil SC - Marc Wilson 27', Ryan Shawcross 29', Danny Pugh 44'
Stoke had an early half-chance when Jonathan Walters got a toe to a cross from the left but West Ham forward Demba Ba was looking dangerous early in the piece, following on from his good form in his opening three matches for his new club.
GOAL The Senegalese striker pounced on an error when Potters defender Marc Wilson and goalkeeper Asmir Begovic were involved in a mix-up with Ba needing no second invitation to tap home in the 21st minute to notch his fourth for the East London outfit.
GOAL The home side grabbed a second to shellshock the Potters just nine minutes later when Manuel da Costa scored with an unmarked header for his first league goal of the season. The Portuguese defender leapt superbly to nod home a dangerous Thomas Hitzlsperger free-kick for his second goal of the season, making it two against Stoke this season - the other coming in the Carling Cup.
West Ham had a spring in their step after the second goal and really should have been three up when Frederic Piquionne hit the side netting with only Begovic to beat after Ba's shot fell to him. The Frenchman was actually a bit wasteful as the half progressed with Stoke looking bereft of ideas down their attacking end.
The Hammers kept coming and again came close to a third when Hitzlsperger's sweet volley was kept out by Begovic to end arguably the best 45 minutes of the season for the home side.
Avram Grant's men again took up the running in the second half and were looking by far the more dangerous of the two sides with the front three of Ba, Piquionne and Carlton Cole regularly linking up well.
Cole came close with his 68th minute shot which was saved by Begovic as Stoke continued to be outplayed before they almost edged their way into the match when substitute Kenwyne Jones glanced wide and Jonathan Walters struck goalward but Robert Green was on hand to keep the visitors goalless.
GOAL Hammers put all their domination onto the scoreboard late in the piece when German midfielder Hitzlsperger thrashed home a piledriver after Piquionne's shot was deflected away by Begovic. The third goal in the 83rd minute essentially wrapped up all three points for West Ham who managed to move out of the relegation zone thanks to a stellar performance at home.
Starting Line-Ups
West Ham Robert Green (gk) - James Tomkins, Matthew Upson, Manuel da Costa, Wayne Bridge - Mark Noble, Scott Parker (GAbbidon 90+3', Thomas Hitzlsperger - Frederic Piquionne, Carlton Cole (Obinna 87'), Demba Ba (O'Neil 81')
Subs - Ruud Boffin (gk), Gary O'Neil (81'), Victor Obinna (87'), Danny Gabbidon (90+3'), Jonathan Spector, Zavon Hines, Lars Jacobsen
Stoke Asmir Begovic (gk) - Marc Wilson, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Danny Pugh - Jermaine Pennant (Etherington 51'), Rory Delap (Jones 69'), Dean Whitehead, Glenn Whelan - Jonathan Walters, John Carew (Fuller 66')
Subs - Thomas Sorensen (gk), Matthew Etherington (51'), Ricardo Fuller (66'), Kenwyne Jones (69'), Danny Collins, Salif Diao, Andy Wilkinson
