Memories of the West Ham United's crushing 6-0 defeat at Reading on New Year's Day came flooding back at The Valley as Alan Curbishley's side were subjected to a 4-0 defeat by Alan Pardew's Charlton Athletic.
Within the first five minutes Charlton looked dangerous. Marcus Bent saw his early strike travel wide and the home side pushed forward again straight afterwards as Darren Ambrose charged down the right wing. His testing cross would have found the feet of returning striker Darren Bent in the box but for some good defensive work from Calum Davenport.
Paul Konchesky picked up a yellow card after five minutes for a late challenge on Ambrose. Luke Young floated the resulting free kick into the box but Davenport was again on hand to clear.
With 10 minutes gone, Davenport got in the way of an Ambrose effort in the six-yard box and deflected it out for a corner. Nigel Quashie was then cautioned for a sliding tackle on Ambrose. Hammers pressed forward and Carlos Tevez nearly found Carlton Cole in the box after combining skillfully with Yossi Benayoun, but the ball was cut out by Souleymane Diawara.
Cole then found Konchesky at the far post and he drilled the ball tantalisingly across goal but Benayoun couldn't find the final touch.
Charlton then controversially took the lead after 24 minutes when Bent, clearly in an offside position as he received the ball on the right, crossed the ball for Ambrose to finish.
Hammers tried to regain the composure as Tevez made an excellent run from inside his own half. But he was charged down by three Charlton shirts as he neared the opposing penalty area.
Moments later Charlton doubled their lead as Jerome Thomas darted into the box and squeezed a left-foot shot past Rob Green.
Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink joined proceedings just after the goal, replacing the injured Marcus Bent. Moments later the Hammers nearly pulled a goal back through Nigel Quashie as he struck a fierce shot from outside the box but Carson produced an excellent save.
Talal El Karkouri was then booked for a lunge on Tevez as Hammers continued to look for a goal but it was Charlton who scored again, making it 3-0 five minutes before the break. Konchesky lost the ball in midfield to Hasselbaink, who set up Darren Bent to slide the ball past Green.
Just before the break Tevez tried to fire the Hammers back into it but his well-struck free-kick clipped the roof of the net. At half-time Marlon Harewood replaced Matthew Etherington as Hammers switched to three up front.
After 53 minutes Green was beaten by a stinging shot from Hasselbaink but the ball cannoned back off the upright. Diawara was booked shortly afterwards for a foul on Benayoun just outside the Charlton penalty box and Tevez fired in another testing free-kick, forcing Carson to palm the ball over the bar at full stretch for a corner.
In the 57th minute Benayoun launched the ball into the box for Davenport but the defender's header was held by Carson. Kepa Blanco came off the bench to replace Cole with just over half-an-hour left on the clock.
Hammers were unlucky not to score when Harewood let fly with a shot that deflected off Thatcher and Carson and went behind for a corner. With just under 20 minutes to go, Shaun Newton came on to replace Mullins, then Davenport had another header held by Carson from Tevez's corner but Charlton went straight down the other end and scored. Thomas fired his second of the afternoon past Green to make it 4-0.
The loyal and committed Hammers fans refused to be silenced by the scoreline, though, and continued on in full voice past the final whistle, despite knowing that the club's Premiership status is now in real danger.
by Gemma Clarke