After a nine-match unbeaten run, Hammers were finally
beaten as the poor record against Bolton Wanderers this season
continued at the Reebok Stadium.
Two goals from Stelios and one each from Gary Speed and Henrik Pedersen secured a 4-1 victory for Sam Allardyce's men, with Teddy Sheringham's 78th minute strike proving nothing more than a consolation on a disappointing afternoon in the north-west.
Ahead of our FA Cup fifth round replay against the same opponents on Wednesday and a possible four matches in the space of nine days, Alan Pardew opted to rest his attacking trio of Marlon Harewood, Dean Ashton and Yossi Benayoun, and also made some positional changes in the starting line-up.
With captain Nigel Reo-Coker out through illness, Anton Ferdinand was the surprise choice to fill the gap in the centre of midfield, as defender Elliott Ward came in alongside Danny Gabbidon for his first Premiership start in a Hammers shirt following his return from an impressive loan spell at Plymouth Argyle. Up front, Bobby Zamora partnered Sheringham, who took over the skipper's armband, while Shaun Newton came in for Benayoun on the right side of midfield.
As Hammers adjusted to their altered line-up, it was Bolton who understandably made the brighter start and took the lead before the visitors had even got into their stride. Just 12 minutes were on the clock when a floated cross from the left found the unmarked Ricardo Vaz Te, whose header crashed back off the post and dropped kindly into the path of Stelios, who slotted the ball into an empty net.
The visitors might have pulled level midway through the first half, when Zamora's low cross was touched back by Sheringham for Newton, but the midfielder scuffed his shot from 12 yards out and O'Brien cleared the danger.
The miss proved costly as, just eight minutes later, Bolton added a second. Hislop's poor clearance was pounced on by midfielder Kevin Nolan, who advanced forward and fired in a low shot from 20 yards out that appeared to be heading wide until it clipped the heel of Stelios and rolled into the bottom corner of the net.
Buoyed by their good fortune, the hosts began to control proceedings and look dangerous every time they went forward. Stelios twice came close to claiming a quick-fire hat-trick, while Speed saw a fierce long-range effort fly just inches over the bar.
Just minutes before the interval, Hislop twice had to be at his very best to tip round blistering shots from Okocha, and the Hammers goalkeeper was also called upon to superbly block a snap-shot from Nolan.
However, just when it seemed that the visitors would go in at the break still in with a chance of mounting a comeback, Bolton grabbed a killer third goal with virtually the last kick of the half in stoppage time. A cross from the left was only punched half-clear by Hislop and the ball was clipped back in for Speed to net with an acrobatic overhead kick from just eight yards out.
Not surprisingly, Alan Pardew made changes at half-time, replacing Ward and Newton with Christian Dailly and Benayoun, and moving Ferdinand back into his more familiar defensive role, but the switch didn't pay off immediately and Bolton should have made it four within moments of the restart when Kevin Davies found himself in the clear, but somehow stabbed wide with only Hislop to beat.
Having survived that scare, Hammers began to fight back and, with Benayoun providing a more creative link between midfield and attack, there appeared a slim possibility that we might produce a comeback. Zamora saw his dangerous cut-back travel across the six-yard box with Jaaskelainen beaten, while Hayden Mullins fired just wide from the edge of the penalty area and then saw a goal-bound effort deflected over for a corner.
The pressure finally paid off with just 12 minutes remaining, when Etherington escaped on the left and cut the ball back for Benayoun, whose shot was blocked by Jaaskelainen but fell perfectly for Sheringham, who slammed the ball home from just a few yards out to provide just the tiniest glimmer of hope.
Unfortunately, that hope was extinguished just two minutes later, as Bolton responded with a breakaway counter-attack that resulted in substitute Henrik Pedersen - a last-minute replacement for El-Hadji Diouf, who had been injured in the warm-up - collecting a pass from Vaz Te and rifling an unstoppable shot past Hislop from the edge of the area to restore the three-goal advantage.
Konchesky, Dailly and Ferdinand were all booked in the closing stages as frustrations boiled over slightly for Hammers, who saw their nine-game unbeaten run come to an end in disappointing fashion.
More changes are likely when the two sides do battle for a fifth and final time this season at Upton Park on Wednesday night and, with a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals at stake, Pardew's men will be desperate to make amends for today's display and finally get the better of Bolton.
Two goals from Stelios and one each from Gary Speed and Henrik Pedersen secured a 4-1 victory for Sam Allardyce's men, with Teddy Sheringham's 78th minute strike proving nothing more than a consolation on a disappointing afternoon in the north-west.
Ahead of our FA Cup fifth round replay against the same opponents on Wednesday and a possible four matches in the space of nine days, Alan Pardew opted to rest his attacking trio of Marlon Harewood, Dean Ashton and Yossi Benayoun, and also made some positional changes in the starting line-up.
With captain Nigel Reo-Coker out through illness, Anton Ferdinand was the surprise choice to fill the gap in the centre of midfield, as defender Elliott Ward came in alongside Danny Gabbidon for his first Premiership start in a Hammers shirt following his return from an impressive loan spell at Plymouth Argyle. Up front, Bobby Zamora partnered Sheringham, who took over the skipper's armband, while Shaun Newton came in for Benayoun on the right side of midfield.
As Hammers adjusted to their altered line-up, it was Bolton who understandably made the brighter start and took the lead before the visitors had even got into their stride. Just 12 minutes were on the clock when a floated cross from the left found the unmarked Ricardo Vaz Te, whose header crashed back off the post and dropped kindly into the path of Stelios, who slotted the ball into an empty net.
The visitors might have pulled level midway through the first half, when Zamora's low cross was touched back by Sheringham for Newton, but the midfielder scuffed his shot from 12 yards out and O'Brien cleared the danger.
The miss proved costly as, just eight minutes later, Bolton added a second. Hislop's poor clearance was pounced on by midfielder Kevin Nolan, who advanced forward and fired in a low shot from 20 yards out that appeared to be heading wide until it clipped the heel of Stelios and rolled into the bottom corner of the net.
Buoyed by their good fortune, the hosts began to control proceedings and look dangerous every time they went forward. Stelios twice came close to claiming a quick-fire hat-trick, while Speed saw a fierce long-range effort fly just inches over the bar.
Just minutes before the interval, Hislop twice had to be at his very best to tip round blistering shots from Okocha, and the Hammers goalkeeper was also called upon to superbly block a snap-shot from Nolan.
However, just when it seemed that the visitors would go in at the break still in with a chance of mounting a comeback, Bolton grabbed a killer third goal with virtually the last kick of the half in stoppage time. A cross from the left was only punched half-clear by Hislop and the ball was clipped back in for Speed to net with an acrobatic overhead kick from just eight yards out.
Not surprisingly, Alan Pardew made changes at half-time, replacing Ward and Newton with Christian Dailly and Benayoun, and moving Ferdinand back into his more familiar defensive role, but the switch didn't pay off immediately and Bolton should have made it four within moments of the restart when Kevin Davies found himself in the clear, but somehow stabbed wide with only Hislop to beat.
Having survived that scare, Hammers began to fight back and, with Benayoun providing a more creative link between midfield and attack, there appeared a slim possibility that we might produce a comeback. Zamora saw his dangerous cut-back travel across the six-yard box with Jaaskelainen beaten, while Hayden Mullins fired just wide from the edge of the penalty area and then saw a goal-bound effort deflected over for a corner.
The pressure finally paid off with just 12 minutes remaining, when Etherington escaped on the left and cut the ball back for Benayoun, whose shot was blocked by Jaaskelainen but fell perfectly for Sheringham, who slammed the ball home from just a few yards out to provide just the tiniest glimmer of hope.
Unfortunately, that hope was extinguished just two minutes later, as Bolton responded with a breakaway counter-attack that resulted in substitute Henrik Pedersen - a last-minute replacement for El-Hadji Diouf, who had been injured in the warm-up - collecting a pass from Vaz Te and rifling an unstoppable shot past Hislop from the edge of the area to restore the three-goal advantage.
Konchesky, Dailly and Ferdinand were all booked in the closing stages as frustrations boiled over slightly for Hammers, who saw their nine-game unbeaten run come to an end in disappointing fashion.
More changes are likely when the two sides do battle for a fifth and final time this season at Upton Park on Wednesday night and, with a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals at stake, Pardew's men will be desperate to make amends for today's display and finally get the better of Bolton.