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West Ham continued their fine run of form by brushing aside a lacklustre Hull City side 2-0 at Upton Park.

Goals from Carlton Cole and David Di Michele earned a fourth home league victory in a row and consigned Hull to their sixth consecutive league defeat, while the Hammers could even afford to see Mark Noble fail to convert a penalty.

West Ham dominated from the off, and should really have been three or four up at half-time. Hull manager Phil Brown had handed a Premier League debut to goalkeeper Matt Duke in an attempt to stop Hull's slide, and the result could have been far worse but for some brilliant saves from the shot-stopper.

Hull, who have not picked up a point in the league now since December 13, posed very little threat throughout, and two goals was the least that West Ham deserved.

The excellent Di Michele put West Ham ahead midway through the first half, finishing from inside the six-yard box after good work from Cole.

Di Michele then returned the favour for Cole early in the second half as Di Michele's shot came off the inside of the post, allowing Cole an easy chance to slot in his fifth goal in as many games.

West Ham should have been out of sight at half-time after a very comfortable 45 minutes, but the inside of both posts and some good work from Duke meant they only went in with a narrow lead.

Cole was brought down by Sam Ricketts on 20 minutes after Matthew Upson had hooked a West Ham corner back into the area, and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. However, Duke guessed correctly and dived to his left to palm away Mark Noble's poorly taken penalty.

Shortly after Di Michele thought he had scored with a lovely curling effort, only for the ball to somehow bounce off the inside of the post and out when everyone in the ground thought it was in.

Di Michele got his deserved goal later on as, with some quick footwork, he created himself a shooting chance just outside the area. His left-foot shot was curling in before Duke got down well to push the ball wide, but the danger was not cleared as Cole picked up the ball, exchanged passes with Noble and placed a lovely side-footed shot which again looked to be curling in before another great save from Duke.

Unfortunately for Hull, this time Di Michele was following up and he managed to knee the ball over the line.

New record signings for both clubs were on the bench, with Jimmy Bullard and Savio Nsereko costing £5 million and £9m respectively. Both would eventually make an appearance, but in very different circumstances.

Bullard came on shortly after Cole had made it 2-0 with a stabbed finish from inside the six-yard box after more brilliant work from Di Michele whose shot had come off the inside of the post into Cole's path.

Nsereko was introduced on 89 minutes with West Ham well and truly on top. His only contribution of note was to be on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Ricketts.

West Ham move up to eighth whilst Hull continue their slide down the table.

Jamie Nazareth / Eurosport