Lee Bowyer was sent-off late on as West Ham were held to a 1-1 draw against relegation threatened Birmingham City at Upton Park.

In front of the watching Fabio Capello, the former Leeds man was given a straight red card for lunging into a tackle with Damien Johnson two minutes from time, although replays suggest it may have been a harsh decision.

The match itself started brightly but faded in the second-half; both goals came early with Freddie Ljungberg giving West Ham the lead before James McFadden levelled from the spot.

The result means that West Ham remain 10th while Birmingham move out of the relegation zone ahead of Reading thanks to the point.

West Ham were quick out of the blocks and backed-up their early dominance with a close range effort from Ljungberg in the seventh minute.

It was the Sweden international's first goal for the Hammers as he crept in at the back post to fire home Dean Ashton's flick on, but Alex McLeish will be furious that new signing David Murphy allowed Ljungberg to peel off him for the goal.

Birmingham were gifted a way back into things just 10 minutes later though when Lucas Neill unnecessarily manhandled Gary McSheffrey in the box.

McFadden then buried a perfect penalty into the bottom left hand corner that Robert Green had no chance of saving despite guessing the right way.

The game remained open for most of the first half, with West Ham looking particularly dangerous down the left hand side where Matthew Etherington was having a lively game.

However, Birmingham tightened things up after the break, and while this allowed the Hammers to dominate possession, they struggled to create many chances.

Ashton had a number of half chances but he left his shooting boots at home, and perhaps West Ham's best second-half moment came from a Matthew Upson header that was well saved by Maik Taylor.

Birmingham's attitude seemed to suggest they were happy with a draw from early on in the second-half, although Mikael Forssell rolled an effort just wide after being slipped through.

However, there was to be no winner, but with all their possession and Bowyer's red card added to mix, West Ham will be least satisfied of the two teams.

Seán Fay / Eurosport