WEST Ham United have swept Plymouth aside at Upton Park, cruising
to a 5-0 win in the Coca-Cola Championship.
A Marlon Harewood penalty after ten minutes began the scoring, a
bizarre own goal from Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick added to
it, before Hammers captain Malky Mackay gave his side a three goal
advantage just before the break.
Two second-half goals from Teddy Sheringham completed West
Ham's biggest win since beating Wimbledon by the same scoreline
in March last year.
Alan Pardew made two changes from the team that went out of the FA
Cup on penalties to Sheffield United. Hayden Mullins, who played
all but the first 16 minutes at Bramall Lane in place of the
injured Luke Chadwick, coming in to replace the midfielder who has
a torn hamstring. Fit-again Sergei Rebrov was also recalled in
place of Nigel Reo-Coker who dropped to a very senior bench that
also included Steve Lomas, Bobby Zamora and Matty Etherington, the
latter involved for the first time since undergoing a groin
operation last month.
The game started slowly on a chilly afternoon in East London,
Hammers enjoying plenty of possession without forcing a way through
the Plymouth defence.
That all changed though when Plymouth captain Graham Coughlan
inexplicably raised an arm to punch clear Mark Noble's corner.
Referee Friend had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and
up-stepped Marlon Harewood to put last weekend's penalty
shoot-out disappointment behind him with a cool spot kick, sending
goalkeeper Luke McCormick the wrong way.
Plymouth had their first effort on goal shortly afterwards through
Keith Lasley, but his shot lacked conviction and brought nothing
more than a routine save from Stephen Bywater.
Less than a minute later, West Ham had the ball in the net again,
but Anton Ferdinand's close-range strike was ruled out for
offside, after McCormick had blocked from both Harewood and Teddy
Sheringham.
Dominant in possession, Hammers swept forward in search of a second
goal. It arrived on 23 minutes when Sergei Rebrov swung in a corner
to the near post. Anton Ferdinand went in to meet it, but the ball
appeared to strike McCormick on its way into the net.
West Ham were dealt a blow on the half hour mark when the architect
of much of their neat passing, Sergei Rebrov, limped from the field
to be replaced by Nigel Reo-Coker.
Still, Hammers retained an air of dominance in their play and at
the back comfortably dealt with the visitors' threat.
That dominance was converted into a 3-0 lead with five minutes left
in the half. A short corner routine between Noble and Chris Powell
saw the ball swung into the penalty area where Sheringham flicked
it on for birthday boy Malky Mackay to steal a march on the
Plymouth defence and lob the ball calmly over McCormick.
The Argyle players appealed in vain for offside and were no doubt
glad to hear the half-time whistle, with West Ham three goals up
and looking comfortable.
HT: 3-0
Unsurprisingly, Plymouth changed things around at half-time
bringing on Tony Capaldi and David Norris for Bjarni Gudjonsson and
Kevin Lasley.
More surprisingly, Hayden Mullins also remained in the
dressing-room at half-time and was replaced by Steve Lomas, making
his first appearance since December.
The half was just three minutes old when Alan Pardew made his third
substitution of the afternoon, introducing Bobby Zamora for Mark
Noble who was nursing a sore hamstring.
Mackay, on his 33rd birthday, had Hammers first chance of the
second-half heading straight at McCormick from a corner, while
Dexter Blackstock also saw his tentative goal-bound header drop
safely into the arms of Bywater.
Backed by almost 2,500 enthusiastic travelling supporters, Plymouth
pushed forward in search of a way back into the game.
But for Bywater it would have come on 56 minutes when
Blackstock's cross was met by Nick Chadwick, but West Ham's
goalkeeper made a fine block from point-blank range.
McCormick did well to gather Tomas Repka's cross at the feet of
Reo-Coker, before Teddy Sheringham bent in a free-kick that the
goalkeeper watched all the way into his arms.
Plymouth looked a far more solid side for their half-time changes
though, while Hammers struggled to recapture their drive of the
first period.
With 73 minutes gone Bywater had to again be at his best to deny
the dogged persistence of the visitors. First he made a fine
reaction stop to deny Blackstock from 12 yards out and then did
brilliantly to scramble across his goal and claw Capaldi's
follow-up header to safety.
At the other end Harewood's drilled cross created a nervous
moment for Coughlan, forcing the defender to slice a clearance over
his own crossbar.
Minutes later, Alan Pardew's men finally ended Plymouth's
resistance with a fourth goal. Carl Fletcher's pinpoint cross
from the right was met by Sheringham, who powered his header beyond
the reach of McCormick.
Gallantly, the visitors continued to push forward, but Hasney
Aljofree's tame long range shot just about summed up their day.
And when Nigel Reo-Coker burst through on goal and was hauled down
by Mathias Doumbe, Plymouth's morale was already broken. For
the second time in the game the referee pointed to the spot, this
time though, as if to rub salt in the Plymouth wounds, he dismissed
Doumbe for a professional foul.
Teddy Sheringham stepped up to take the spot-kick, like Harewood
before him, hoping to banish the memory of his penalty shoot-out
agony.
But McCormick guessed right and flying to his right punched
Sheringham's effort away. The striker's disappointment was
quickly replaced by optimism though when the assistant referee
ruled that the Plymouth goalkeeper had moved off his line too soon
and ordered the kick to be retaken.
Not to be out-done for a second time Sheringham fired the ball
home, sending McCormick the wrong way for good measure to make it
5-0.
The final whistle was met with cheers of approval from the Upton
Park faithful, as they celebrated a vital three points and West Ham
United's biggest win of the season.