FOOTBALL Live

Saturday March 15, 2008 Finished Upton Park

Logo 2 - Blackburn Rovers 1

West Ham

  • Ashton 40’
  • Sears 80’

Blackburn Rovers

  • Santa Cruz 19’
  1. Sears wins it for Hammers

    Sears wins it for Hammers

    Teenager Freddie Sears scored on his Premier League debut to give West Ham a vital 2-1 over Blackburn at Upton Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • West Ham
    • Blackburn Rovers
    • 90' It's all over, and West Ham have ended their miserable run of 4-0 defeats with a 2-1 win. Freddie Sears will surely be on the beers tonight...he's just about old enough.
    • 84' Blackburn are trying to break the Hammers down, but Curbishley's men are not having any of it. Sears is apparently just 18 YEARS OLD...unbelievable stuff.
    • 82' This game is really on now. Blackburn are pushing forward, but Ashton gets a chance on the break and blasts over the bar.
    • 80' GOOOOALLL!!!! WEST HAM LEAD!!! Freddie Sears, the youngster making his debut sees his shot parried by Friedel...BUT HE DIVES AND HEADS HOME TO SEND THE HAMMERS' FANS CRAZY. WHAT A INTRODUCTION TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE!
    • 74' West Ham double change - Nolberto Solano makes way for youngster Fred Sears, and Scott Parker leaves the field for Mark Noble.
    • 73' Booking for Steven Reid for a foul on Ljungberg - nasty one that.
    • 68' Matt Derbyshire comes on to replace David Dunn for Rovers. This game seems to have lost its sparkle...maybe Derbyshire can spark something.
    • 65' BRILLIANT COMEDY MOMENT FROM LJUNGBERG, who somehow trips and falls over himself when well-placed to cross on the left flank. More ridiculous than his Calvin Klein ads.
    • 63' Corner for Blackburn. Bentley takes it from the left...a weak, loopy one, which Samba meets at the far post with an equally weak, loopy header.
    • 60' It's raining at Upton Park - but apart that very little is happening. Blackburn break down the left, but the resultant cross from Pederson balloons into the air like...well a balloon. Ashton's away for the hammers..weak shot from 20 yards. Even Robert Green can stop those.
    • 55' PEDERSON...SHOULD HAVE SCORED. That was a wonderful opportunity. He spun and shot from about 10 yards, but missed the target. Meanwhile Mullins heads just wide for the Hammers.
    • 52' Bobby Zamora pops up for his first meaningful contribution. He pulls his shot just wide...should have done better. He used to bury those at Brighton
    • 50' THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT...Brad Friedel strides forward, leaps with intent and collects a high ball with effortless control to deny the Hammers.
    • 49' Robert Green will not want to see that again. The West Ham 'keeper fails to deal with a speculative ball in from the left and is very lucky not to hand Blackburn an opportunity to take the lead.
    • 47' Blackburn have a long throw from the right. West Ham deal with the first wave, before David Bentley whips a Beckham-esque ball towards Santa Cruz...it's too long.
    • 46' The second half is under way here at Upton Park...
    • 45' Blackburn make a change - Brett Emerton, who is injured, is replaced by Zurab Khizanishvili.
    • 45' Half-time at Upton Park. It's been an open game and 1-1 is probably about right. Two great goals, and the hint of more to come.
    • 43' Solano catches Pedersen - who appears to have offended somebody in the West Ham team in some way - with an elbow. David Dunn swings a threatening free-kick into the box...it evades everyone though.
    • 42' Mark Hughes is NOT HAPPY. He's chewing gum with a frightening level of intensity ala Fergie on the touchline. Samba was caught out for the goal, and the hairdryer will surely come out at half-time...The great thing for Hughes, is that he's almost certainly got a few hairdryers lying around for the job.
    • 40' GOOOOOOALLLL! West Ham are level. Ashton with a quite brilliant piece of skill on the edge of the box, flicking the ball round Samba and collecting it to finish neatly with a left-foot strike.
    • 38' Solano the victim again - this time David Dunn skids in like an overeager schoolboy and gets a booking.
    • 37' Friedel pushes the free-kick comfortably over the bar - corner to West Ham. Good period of pressure this. Blackburn clear.
    • 33' What a slide from Steven Reid - who comes very close to slicing Solano in half. Again, no yellow card. Meanwhile, Scott Parker is having a whinge as the Hammers win a free-kick in shooting distance.
    • 30' OUR NEW FEATURE..Curb Cam Watch - another soft-focus shot pans in on the 'under-fire' Hammers' gaffer. Lovely cinematography that. Curbs looks like a condemned man.
    • 28' Crunch...that had to hurt. Hayden Mullins get 'reet stuck into' Pedersen, leaving the striker in a heap on the East London turf. No yellow card. The first sign of needle in the game.
    • 26' A pensive Alan Curbishley stands arms crossed by the dugout, as yet another Blackburn corner provokes comical scenes in the West Ham box...Somebody needs to get a hold of their back four and fast!
    • 22' Ashton again comes close for West Ham - to be honest he should have done better. Friedel palms his soft header past the post. Meanwhile, David Bentley picks up a yellow card.
    • 19' Blackburn lead. WHAT A GOAL! Wonderful break from Rovers. Pedersen collects a pass, slopes forward on the left and clips a deft cross for SANTA CRUZ to dive and head home! 1-0 Blackburn. Not the start Hammers' fans will have wanted
    • 16' ANOTHER corner for Blackburn. Ooooohhhhhhh....that was the closest we've come to a goal. Christopher Samba with a towering leap, but his header goes just over. West Ham counter..
    • 14' Great play from Ljungberg - jinking and weaving to evoke his halcyon days at Highbury. He fancies this one - you can tell.
    • 12' Corner for Blackburn on the left - Robert Green flaps at it like an angry old lady swatting a wasp, but the all ends well for West Ham. Rovers second corner comes to nothing.
    • 8' As a spectacle, the early signs are good here. Blackburn break free down the right, and Pedersen makes a great run to meet a far post cross - but he's stretching and the header goes wide.
    • 6' This is really positive stuff from the Hammers. They win a corner after persistent play from Freddie Ljungberg on the right flank...It comes to nothing though.
    • 4' West Ham enjoy the first real chance of the afternoon. An inswinging free-kick from Solano finds Dean Ashton, but the bleached-haired one misses the target.
    • - In their last four outings, West Ham have been trounced 4-0 by Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham respectively. "Nothing surprises me or disturbs me. But for us to be 10th in the league and subjected to such criticism is difficult," said Alan Curbishly today. There's no denying they need something today.
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of West Ham v Blackburn in the Premier League, coverage from Upton Park from 15:00GMT!

  • Team Stats

    West Ham Stats Blackburn Rovers
    52% Possession 47%
    15 Shots 10
    4 Shots on target 4
    2 Saves 1
    8 Corners 10
    13 Fouls 10
    2 Offsides 1
    1 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 0
    23 Tackles 19
    231 Accurate passes 218
    22 Bad passes 49

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • West Ham
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Robert Green 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 1 0
      5 Anton Ferdinand 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 9 1 2
      3 George McCartney 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 5 2
      2 Lucas Neill 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 31 2 1
      18 Jonathan Spector 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 10 0 4
      8 Scott Parker 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 28 2 4
      17 Hayden Mullins 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 31 0 3
      15 Nolberto Solano 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 23 1 1
      7 Fredrik Ljungberg 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 21 4 1
      9 Dean Ashton 1 8 2 0 1 0 0 16 2 2
      25 Bobby Zamora 0 1 0 1 2 2 1 17 0 0
      21 Richard Wright 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Mark Noble 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 4 1
      14 John Paintsil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
      40 Freddie Sears 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1
      30 James Tomkins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Blackburn Rovers
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Brad Friedel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3 0
      2 Andre Ooijer 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 26 2 5
      3 Stephen Warnock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 9 3
      4 Christopher Samba 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 12 1 2
      14 Steven Reid 0 1 0 5 2 0 0 31 4 5
      19 David Dunn 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 1 0
      11 David Bentley 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 20 8 0
      7 Brett Emerton 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0
      12 Morten Gamst Pedersen 0 3 0 1 2 0 1 18 15 1
      30 Jason Roberts 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 16 4 0
      9 Roque Santa Cruz 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 17 1 3
      15 Aaron Mokoena 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      13 Zurab Khizanishvili 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0
      10 Benedict McCarthy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
      32 Jason Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Matt Derbyshire 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0

  • Summary

    • 80' GOOOOALLL!!!! WEST HAM LEAD!!! Freddie Sears, the youngster making his debut sees his shot parried by Friedel...BUT HE DIVES AND HEADS HOME TO SEND THE HAMMERS' FANS CRAZY. WHAT A INTRODUCTION TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE!
    • 40' GOOOOOOALLLL! West Ham are level. Ashton with a quite brilliant piece of skill on the edge of the box, flicking the ball round Samba and collecting it to finish neatly with a left-foot strike.
    • 19' Blackburn lead. WHAT A GOAL! Wonderful break from Rovers. Pedersen collects a pass, slopes forward on the left and clips a deft cross for SANTA CRUZ to dive and head home! 1-0 Blackburn. Not the start Hammers' fans will have wanted

Live Team Line-Up

  • West Ham

    Manager: Alan Curbishley

    Captain: Lucas Neill

    On the Field

    • Green
    • Neill
    • Ferdinand
    • Spector
    • McCartney
    • Solano Substitution Out (74′)
    • Parker Substitution Out (74′)
    • Mullins
    • Ljungberg Substitution Out (88′)
    • Zamora
    • Ashton Goal

    Subs

    • Wright
    • Noble Substitution In (74′)
    • Pantsil Substitution In (88′)
    • Tomkins
    • Sears Substitution In (74′) Goal

    Injured

    • Bowyer
    • Dyer
    • Bellamy
    • Gabbidon
    • Faubert

    Suspended

    • Boa Morte

  • Blackburn Rovers

    Manager: Mark Hughes

    Captain: David Dunn

    On the Field

    • Friedel
    • Ooijer
    • Samba
    • Emerton Substitution Out (46′)
    • Warnock
    • Bentley Yellow Card
    • Reid Yellow Card
    • Dunn Yellow Card Substitution Out (70′)
    • Pedersen Substitution Out (90′)
    • Roberts
    • Santa Cruz Goal

    Subs

    • McCarthy
    • Mokoena
    • Derbyshire Substitution In (70′)
    • Khizanishvili Substitution In (90′)
    • Brown

    Injured

    • Nelsen

    Suspended

    None