Rate it!

2 votes

West Ham moved out of the bottom three of the Premier League but were left to rue the concession of a two-goal lead in an entertaining 3-3 draw with 10-man Hull.

For the second time in a month, West Ham surrendered a two-goal lead to end with only a point to show for their efforts. That Gianfranco Zola's side came away with anything at all was due to Manuel da Costa's 69th-minute equaliser.

Goals from Guillermo Franco and Jack Collison gave The Hammers a two-nil lead at The KC Stadium but, as at Sunderland and a 2-2 draw a month previous, the Hammers were unable to hold their advantage.

Jimmy Bullard carried the fight to the visitors in his own inimitable style and was the grateful recipient of two pieces of good fortune.

The midfielder's deflected shot began the fightback which saw Kamil Zayatte pull Hull level just before half-time and barely a minute later a contentious penalty award allowed Bullard to send the Tigers into the interval with the lead.

The home side's cause was not helped, however, by the dismissal early in the second half of Bernard Mendy for a professional foul, and it was left to da Costa to conclude the scoring.

The goal scoring in an action-packed first half began as early as the fifth minute when Franco headed the Hammers into the lead. A great block from Zayatte had moments earlier denied Carlton Cole but, from the subsequent Junior Stanislas corner, Franco was criminally unattended to nod Zola's side ahead.

Six minutes later and it went from bad to worse for the Italian's under-pressure counterpart Phil Brown as Collison looped a header over a stranded Matt Duke to double his team's lead with just 11 minutes gone.

Hull had huffed and puffed but rarely looked like blowing the Hammers' house down until a moment of good fortune shortly before the half-hour mark helped turn the game in their favour.

Bullard's shot from 25 yards took not one but two deflections before the ball looped over the head of Rob Green and into the top corner. The hapless Cole was later credited with an own goal.

A minute before half-time Hull equalised when Zayatte finished neatly at the near post after a cross from the right by Stephen Hunt.

The first-half turnaround was complete a minute into time added on at the end of the half when Hull were awarded a very dubious penalty after referee Mark Clattenburg adjudged Julien Faubert to have fouled Craig Fagan.

West Ham protestations were understandable - the Hammers man was surely doing nothing more than standing his ground but Bullard cared not one jot for the controversy, rifling the penalty high beyond Green.

Franco sent a shot narrowly wide of Duke's left-hand post after the restart as the home side were soon reduced to 10 men.

Clattenburg, perhaps mindful that he had handed the home side an unfair advantage at the end of the first half, showed a straight red card to Mendy in the 53rd minute after the Frenchman had brought down a charging Scott Parker outside the area.

West Ham's man advantage told 15 minutes later when defender da Costa reacted quickest to fire home a shot that squeezed between Andy Dawson and the post.

With Hull a man light and seemingly happy to settle for a point, it fell on the visitors to try and force a late winner.

Substitute Luis Jimenez came within inches of obliging. After Parker had robbed Anthony Gardner the substitute hit a shot that skidded the wrong side of the post.

Stanislas also had his head in his hands when he miscued a header from Faubert's cross four minutes from full-time.

Chris Stanton / Eurosport