West Ham end Liverpool’s unbeaten run

LONDON.
Liverpool’s unbeaten run of eight matches under Kenny Dalglish came to an end yesterday as West Ham earned a deserved 3-1 victory over them to move off the bottom of the Premier League table.
Goals by inspirational captain Scott Parker, recent signing Demba Ba and a reinvigorated Carlton Cole were more than enough to see off a Liverpool side whose only response was a late effort by Glen Johnson.
Parker – whose rousing half-time talk a fortnight ago had been credited for inspiring the Hammers to come back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with fellow relegation strugglers West Brom – struck just after the 20 minute mark with a nice effort.
Ba – who scored a brace in the West Brom match – then added to the hosts’ lead with a fine header from Gary O’Neil’s cross. Liverpool reduced the deficit when Johnson tapped in with six minutes remaining but Cole assuaged any home fans’ fears of a comeback by the visitors as he restored the two goal advantage shortly afterwards and record only their sixth league win of the campaign.
Meanwhile, fine finishes from Mario Balotelli and Damien Duff were the only brief highlights in an otherwise dire contest as Manchester City and Fulham shared the points at Eastlands yesterday.
This was Mark Hughes’ first game back at City following his dismissal in December 2009 and he will have been pleased with his side’s hard earned point – even if he appeared to argue with Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini on the final whistle.
Mancini was dealt a blow before kick off when Vincent Kompany failed to recover from a hip problem, while Nigel De Jong remained on the sidelines.
David Silva has been in incredible form recently but he was also missing with an ankle problem although City’s embarrassment of riches meant Mancini still played with three fine attackers in the form of Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko.
City may well have an intriguing FA Cup encounter later this week but a top-four finish is a must for the club this season and this game was massively more important for Mancini.
It was of course the Italian who replaced Mark Hughes at Eastlands 14 months ago and if he does not manage to get them a Champions League qualification position then he too could be heading for the exit in the summer. – AFP.