Showing posts with label Hull City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hull City. Show all posts
Wolverhampton Wanderers pulled seven points clear of the Premier League drop zone after a 3-1 win at West Ham, who barely raised a whimper in a relegation six-pointer.
Goals from Kevin Doyle, Ronald Zubar and Matt Jarvis gave Mick McCarthy's men as straightforward a win as they have had all season, with West Ham as poor as Wolves were competent.
Doyle, Jarvis and midfielder David Jones were in fine form for the Midlanders, whose defence was tightly-organised and well-protected by the impressive Michael Mancienne.
For the Hammers only Scott Parker accepted any responsibility, with Guillermo Franco impressive when he came on as a late sub to test Marcus Hahnemann and score an injury-time consolation.
West Ham's main problem lay in a back four that was nothing short of shambolic.
Matthew Upson and James Tomkins barely completed a clearance between them, bullied by the shorter yet aerially superior Doyle, and it was a shocking error from Tomkins that gave the visitors a 28th-minute lead.
A straightforward long ball should have been meat and drink for the 20-year-old but he let it run across him before hugely under-hitting an attempted back-pass. Doyle needed no invitation and raced on to the loose ball, holding off Tomkins's challenge and rifling a low drive across Robert Green and in off the far post.
Kevin Foley had already hit the underside of the bar with a splendid effort after Doyle beat Upson to a flick-on and, after the opener, Radoslav Kovac was fortunate not to give away a penalty when he kicked David Jones's calf in the box.
Wolves were turning it on, Green forced to palm Jones's low strike behind after a lovely passing move that showed guile and patience as well as muscle.
West Ham did have one chance at the end of the first half, but luck was not on their side when Parker surged forward to play a low curler off the inside of the post.
Zola rang the changes at half-time, with Junior Stanislas brought on for the increasingly pointless Kovac and - seemingly suffering from his earlier howler - Tomkins replaced by Jonathan Spector.
It did not help as two goals in three minutes around the hour mark put the match out of sight for the hosts.
The first was a wonderful individual effort from French full-back Zubar, who rifled Jones's pass inside the far post from a tight angle, with the shot flying at such pace Green was barely able to get down in time to see it whistle in.
The second was a great team goal, with Jarvis placing a low shot inside the right-hand post after a sweet touch to play Jones's through-ball between Upson and Spector.
With half an hour remaining, West Ham's fans started leaving in their droves and, save for a late consolation for Franco - who also forced a smart stop from Hahnemann just after coming on - they missed little.
West Ham gave up the ghost as weakly as they did against a 10-man Arsenal at the weekend, leaving them three points above third-bottom Burnley, but with 19th-placed Hull City having a game in hand on the same total.
Wolves, meanwhile, rise to 15th, seven points clear with seven matches remaining.
Leaving it late is the mark of champions, according to Arsène Wenger.
Arsenal secured a crucial 2-1 victory in injury time at Hull on Saturday. A fortnight earlier they had done the same thing at Stoke and, in fact, in their last five games Wenger’s men have scored six goals in the 90th minute or later.
The manager puts this tardiness down to technique and belief. He has admitted he could do without the adrenaline shot but his side's ability to fathom out a win in tight circumstances has a title-winning quality to it.
“Manchester United used to score late, yes,” he said. “I believe that this season nobody has scored more than Arsenal in the last 15 minutes. Maybe it is down to a technical superiority and a never-give-up attitude. That is what I like in my team. When I see them on the pitch, I know they will not give up.”
They had that same attitude when at the end of November they trailed leaders Chelsea by 11 points. Right now they are just two points adrift of Manchester United, who top the table.
“I knew that they would not give up then but at some stage we needed results to start going for us,” he said. “You could not predict that, frankly.
“Our attitude has been spot on and we have deserved the wins. The rest of the season will be tight, interesting and exciting and that is all you need when you work in newspapers.
“I don't know if this would be my best achievement, let's achieve something first!
“But with eight games - four at home, four away - to go we are still in the race. So let’s have a go.”
Arsenal secured a crucial 2-1 victory in injury time at Hull on Saturday. A fortnight earlier they had done the same thing at Stoke and, in fact, in their last five games Wenger’s men have scored six goals in the 90th minute or later.
The manager puts this tardiness down to technique and belief. He has admitted he could do without the adrenaline shot but his side's ability to fathom out a win in tight circumstances has a title-winning quality to it.
“Manchester United used to score late, yes,” he said. “I believe that this season nobody has scored more than Arsenal in the last 15 minutes. Maybe it is down to a technical superiority and a never-give-up attitude. That is what I like in my team. When I see them on the pitch, I know they will not give up.”
They had that same attitude when at the end of November they trailed leaders Chelsea by 11 points. Right now they are just two points adrift of Manchester United, who top the table.
“I knew that they would not give up then but at some stage we needed results to start going for us,” he said. “You could not predict that, frankly.
“Our attitude has been spot on and we have deserved the wins. The rest of the season will be tight, interesting and exciting and that is all you need when you work in newspapers.
“I don't know if this would be my best achievement, let's achieve something first!
“But with eight games - four at home, four away - to go we are still in the race. So let’s have a go.”
It was a very big win at Hull on Saturday.
When you play a difficult game in midweek there is a lot of mental tension but we went to the KC Stadium and won, so of course it is a big three points. We know what is at stake every time you go away like that. We needed the three points and we got it after 90 minutes, exactly like at Stoke. It tells you that it was a difficult game, but as well that we have desire and mental strength and we never give up. And for such a young team that is great.
I did see us scoring a winner but I could also see us missing out because we had the chances to score. And when you miss so many obvious chances, then you think you will be punished. We're always leaving it until late at the moment, maybe it's not good for my heart, but for the championship, it's not bad.
As for the title race, I believe that we are in the fight and we have eight games to go. We are in there, so why should we not believe? What I especially believe is that we will give absolutely everything to win it and we have seen that again at the weekend. We got jaded but still kept going. There is team spirit there and it is special. You can see that.
Some people have said that Sol Campbell should have been sent off in the second half but I don't agree - it was a good tackle on Zayatte. Some thought Sol might have received a red card when he gave away the first-half penalty but, having seen it Vennegoor of Hesselink played it in an intelligent way.
He did what a striker does in the box, he went straight at Sol and the defender had no other option but to touch him. But there was no real intention to give away a penalty. It was accidental, and the striker was not in a position to score at the moment he was touched. But of course, Vennegoor of Hesselink was offside at the start of the move.
Nicklas Bendtner scored once again, that makes it four goals in two games since he missed those chances against Burnley. You are always judged on the performance of the day, and on that day maybe he deserved the criticism. But the best way to answer the critics is to come up with a better performance and he has done that.
Finally, we should have some good news on the injury front because Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas both have a good chance to be ready for the West Ham game. William Gallas will not be fit but Sol Campbell is OK to start if we play once a week. When we play three games per week it is a bit too much.
