West Ham boss Zola: All that matters is we won!
West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola was delighted to grab a rare three points in their 5-3 thriller against Burnley.
The Hammers were well in command at the break, through goals from Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas, before Carlton Cole - who would later go off injured - converted a penalty as Burnley were made to pay for poor defending after what had been a bright start by the visitors when Clarke Carlisle's header was cleared off the line.
Guillermo Franco headed in a fourth on 51 minutes, with a penalty from substitute Luis Jimenez making it 5-0.
However, Burnley - who have just one point from seven away matches on their return to the top flight - made a fight of it in the closing stages with a late double strike from Steven Fletcher. The visitors finished with 10 men when, in stoppage time, captain Steven Caldwell was shown a straight red for pulling down Zavon Hines, before going up the other end and scoring a third away goal through Chris Eagles.
The manner in which West Ham faded during the closing stages meant there was a sense of relief around Upton Park at the final whistle - the fans having seen Zola's team throw away a winning position before this season.
"It was an entertaining game, although I would have preferred to have conceded fewer goals - but you can't have everything," said the Hammers boss.
"Right now we are very good coming forward, we just need to keep the balance when we are defending. We switched off too early. But we wanted the three points today, and we have to be happy with that.
"I will take a lot of positives from this game - we scored another five goals. Going forwards we are doing very well."
Zola added: "Come on - if we lose it is negative, if we draw it is negative, we score five goals and win, and it is still negative.
"We should be cheering. It has been a great game, and we have scored five goals. We must all enjoy it.
We scored more goals than the opposition, and that is the most important thing.
"We know we have to get better in defence, but if you keep watching everything under the microscope, you will always find something wrong.
"I want to see good things, and we will keep working."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue Feb 14th | |||
| Burnley | Barnsley | - | 19:45 |
| Cardiff City | Peterborough United | - | 19:45 |
| Watford | Leicester City | - | 19:45 |
| Birmingham City | Hull City | - | 19:45 |
| West Ham United | Southampton | - | 19:45 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Millwall | - | 19:45 |
| Coventry City | Leeds United | - | 19:45 |
| Bristol City | Crystal Palace | - | 19:45 |
| Derby County | Reading | - | 19:45 |
| Portsmouth | Ipswich Town | - | 19:45 |
| Doncaster Rovers | Blackpool | - | 19:45 |
| Middlesbrough | Nottingham Forest | - | 19:45 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham United | 29 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 56 |
| Southampton | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 55 |
| Birmingham City | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 50 |
| Cardiff City | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 50 |
| Blackpool | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 49 |
| Hull City | 29 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 49 |
| Reading | 29 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 48 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 48 |
| Middlesbrough | 29 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 47 |
| Leeds United | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 45 |
| Burnley | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 44 |
| Leicester City | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 42 |
| Derby County | 29 | 12 | 6 | 11 | -3 | 42 |
| Crystal Palace | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 39 |
| Barnsley | 29 | 11 | 6 | 12 | -4 | 39 |
| Watford | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | -8 | 37 |
| Portsmouth | 29 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 35 |
| Peterborough United | 29 | 9 | 7 | 13 | -2 | 34 |
| Ipswich Town | 29 | 10 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 34 |
| Millwall | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | -11 | 30 |
| Bristol City | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | -19 | 30 |
| Nottingham Forest | 29 | 7 | 4 | 18 | -24 | 25 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | -22 | 24 |
| Coventry City | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | -17 | 22 |
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