Darius Vassell

Man City 1-1 West Ham

DARIUS Vassell's first-half equaliser couldn't spur City on to a second win over West Ham in five days.

Alan Curbishley's injury-hit Hammers frustrated the Blues, who lost a couple of home points in the chase for a European place.

Carlton Cole's overhead kick put the Hammers ahead after eight minutes; Vassell stabbed in an equaliser eight minutes later.

City's classy young goalkeeper Joe Hart was forced to make smart saves to deny Mark Noble and then Cole in the closing stages.

West Ham deserve credit for producing a spirited response after limping out of the FA Cup at Eastlands on Wednesday.

That they did so without Dean Ashton (back) and Matthew Etherington (knee) hinted at the depth of their squad.

The Hammers were already shorn of the services of Nolberto Solano, Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker, Bobby Zamora and Kieron Dyer through injury.

But they were threatening throughout and Cole's eighth-minute strike was just reward for their early enterprise.

That it came from a defensive error from City skipper Richard Dunne - whose standards have rarely dipped below exemplary this season - raised eyebrows.

The Irishman surrendered possession from inside his own 18-yard box with a dreadful pass straight to Noble and he swiftly fed Freddie Ljungberg on the right flank.

The Swede whipped in a dangerous cross into the six-yard box where Cole controlled the ball, held off Vedran Corluka and dispatched a brilliant overhead volley past Hart.

But City, to their credit, gradually gained a foothold on and drew level in the 16th minute.

It stemmed from a corner from Martin Petrov that West Ham failed to deal with and the ball was recycled back to the Bulgarian out wide on the right flank.

Petrov's vicious cross flashed through a thicket of defenders and found its way to Vassell who stabbed home his third goal of the season from three yards out.

West Ham felt that Vassell was offside when Petrov delivered the cross but the goal stood.

The game became rather scrappy as the half

wore on and West Ham skipper Lucas Neill was shown a yellow card in the 26th minute for a cynical foul on the elusive Petrov.

Dunne followed seven minutes later for chopping down Luis Boa Morte.

West Ham continued to threaten after the break and a neat array of inter-passing between Neill and Ljungberg gave Noble the space to hit an errant shot over the crossbar from 16 yards.

Boa Morte was then booked for an ill-judged lunge on Vassell, who was replaced by Gelson Fernandes just before the hour mark.

West Ham, however, continued to probe and Hayden Mullins drew a smart save from Hart with a low 20-yard shot and then fired over from the same distance.

Rolando Bianchi, who struggled to make any impact, then fired straight at a virtually unemployed Robert Green with a 20-yard volley in the 67th minute.

West Ham thought they had scored a second in the 73rd minute when substitute Julian Faubert bundled the ball home but the strike was disallowed following a push by Lee Bowyer on Dunne.

They should have claimed a winner with 13 minutes remaining, however, when Faubert and Cole combined to give Noble a shooting chance from 12 yards which drew a fine save from Hart, who then tipped over a header from Cole with just seconds remaining.

Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson on goalkeeper Joe Hart:
"He played very well yet again. He has a great future and is a fantastic goalkeeper for his age.

"He is rather big, he is good on crosses and he is very brave.

"The only thing that is missing is experience. You cannot buy that - you have to stand there between the posts and let it happen over the years."

West Ham boss Alan Curbishley:
"I am a little bit disappointed but it is great credit to the players that they deserved to be the first team to win here this season.

"We have had to chop and change all season but the players have done fantastically well.

"And, if we can carry on being as committed as we are, we would still like to finish in the top eight."

Man City: Hart, Corluka, Dunne, Richards, Ball, Vassell (Gelson 58), Hamann, Ireland (Geovanni 68), Petrov, Elano (Garrido 78), Bianchi.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Onuoha.

Booked: Dunne, Geovanni.

Goals: Vassell 16.

West Ham: Green, Neill, Ferdinand, Upson, McCartney, Ljungberg, Noble, Mullins, Bowyer (Spector 90), Boa Morte (Faubert 71), Cole.
Subs Not Used: Wright, Collins, Reid.

Booked: Neill, Boa Morte, Bowyer, Noble.

Goals: Cole 8.

Att: 39,042

Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).