SHAUN Newton's first goal since signing for West Ham more than a year ago eventually proved enough to condemn Manchester City to a sixth straight defeat.
But West Ham, having dominated most of the first half of this Barclays Premiership fixture, were forced to ride their luck on more than one occasion as City battled hard and twice had potential equalisers ruled out for offside.
Trevor Sinclair's goal-bound chip was judged to have been touched before crossing the line by the offside Micah Richards - and in the second half Darius Vassell was denied after excellent work from Albert Riera.
Manchester City have now not won a Premiership game in five attempts - a run that stretches back to before they were beaten at home by West Ham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The Hammers, meanwhile, continue to press for a top-seven finish despite the obvious distraction of next weekend's FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough.
Rare
Newton enjoyed a rare start for West Ham, while Bobby Zamora was given a chance alongside Dean Ashton up front and was clearly determined to press his claims for a place in West Ham's semi-final side.
It was Zamora's excellent turn and break that created the opening for Newton's goal - and he dropped deep to link play in the same way Teddy Sheringham does so well for the Hammers.
Newton blew his first opportunity to make a mark on the game when, having sparked a counter-attack with a 50-yard run, he held on to possession too long and failed to pick out Ashton in space.
But Newton soon made amends, firing West Ham into the lead after 17 minutes.
Wake
The opening was created expertly by Zamora, who turned on a sixpence and left Sylvain Distin in his wake on the left flank before squaring the ball for Newton to fir his shot low across David James and into the bottom corner.
Yossi Benayoun, who had switched to the left of midfield to accommodate Newton, almost picked out Zamora with a neat through-ball as West Ham began to take charge.
Nigel Reo-Coker, who recovered from an ankle injury to play, and Hayden Mullins were winning the midfield battle - as they did in the FA Cup tie against City - and that helped West Ham dictate the tempo.
Zamora's neat touch sent Benayoun running into space, only for the Israeli international to fire his 20-yard shot wide.
City's attacks repeatedly fell foul of James Collins, who was a dominant force at the heart of West Ham's defence.
The Wales international had the edge on Georgios Samaras in the air and threw himself in the path of a drive from Kiki Musampa, before Richard Dunne drove his effort high over the bar.
But City did find more success on the ground and were furious not to be level at half-time, after referee Steve Bennett ruled out Sinclair's goal-bound effort.
Referee Bennett was surrounded by furious City players all arguing that Sinclair's chip had already crossed the line. Their vociferous protests were to no avail, leading only to a booking for Claudio Reyna.
City continued to press after the interval and were almost gifted an equaliser within minutes of the restart.
Sinclair latched on to a loose pass from Newton, and the heart of West Ham's defence parted to allow a clear run on goal.
Sinclair's shot was saved brilliantly by James Walker, who touched it round the corner - but the effort signalled a shift in the balance of power.
Chances
West Ham had their chances to close out the game. But Dunne cleared a cross from Ashton over his own bar, and Harewood then failed to pick out Benayoun in the middle.
City were threatening every time they attacked, and Vassell had the ball in the net after 75 minutes - only to be denied by the off-side flag.
West Ham introduced Carl Fletcher in a bid to shore up their midfield - but Vassell continued to cause havoc and pressed Paul Konchesky into a late clearance with a delicate chip over Walker.
Richards scuffed a golden chance from close range after the ball fell to him unmarked just six yards out. Walker again saved well.
Sinclair escaped the offside trap but could not profit as West Ham clung on to secure the victory.
WHAT did you make of City's game? Have your say.
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Blue noses yet again another defeat .. thats 6 in a row. Next season City must be favourites to join the Nationwide?
Birminham win tomorrow, and we are only 8 points from relegation. I don't feel safe with our 40 points.. Anyone else worried?
OK that's it. When it gets to the point where we are trying to claim half a goal for ones that have been disallowed, we are back in trouble again. We must not be blind. Something is VERY VERY wrong at City. Not just losing six in a row, the fact that we can even get a point against teams like West Ham, who weren't even interested in todays game ( You may remember they beat a badly managed team, at their own ground, in the last round of the FA Cup, and are not interested in games like todays). I look at West Ham, Wigan, Spurs, well anyone really, and they are nowhere near as big a club as we are, they certainly DO NOT have fans as good as ours, but they DO HAVE decent managers, who have systems that the players understand and operate. If this "form" started two games earlier, we would be heading for relegation. Don't blame the manager? WHY NOT? He's to blame. I'm affraid he's got to go. It's alright prattling on about stability, but how stable is LOSING EVERY WEEK? It's not just the last six games is it? We have lost 18 games this season, 6 more than we have won. Only WEST BROM and SUNDERLAND have lost more than us. That is PATHETIC, PATHETIC, PATHETIC. Let's break the bank to get O'Neill before he goes to Newcastle. Don't anybody dare say I'm talking rubbish, either. They are not all KK's old players and SP has re-signed wasters like Siberski, so we got to stop blaming Keegan. This is SP's team, it has been for a year, and it is not good enough. WAKE UP CITY FANS, before it's too late (again).
So it was an improved second half performance, but what happened to the first half then. Why oh why can't city play well in both halfs. It always seems to take an oppositions goal to start us playing. But by then the damage has been done, because these clowns can't buy a goal, let alone score one from a free flowing move. infact can anyone remember the last goal city scored, that came about playing some neat football. They all seem to come from throw ins. Relegation is a certainty next season, if nothing is done in the summer to improve this joke of a squad.
So it continues-perhaps a bit unlucky but on the other hand this was game there for the taking. West Ham really did not have too much commitment to the game-thinking more about their semi-final yet we still could not get a point. Unfortunately the truth is six league defeats on the trot. The defence, Richards apart, looked all over the place in the first half and up front Samares has got to start competing for the ball. Anyway the manager has given them another two days holiday now-wish I got time off when I failed at my job. I really think Sp??s naivity is apparent for all to see and we have to get an experienced Director of Football in to the team to guide and help him.
Total Bobbins! - and much, much more to come.
Saying "they put plenty of effort in" is a hollow joke.
That's the least you expect from those grossly overpaid disfunctionals egotists.
Putting "plenty of effort in" is 11 hours a day at the coalface or chasing Cod around the Atlantic for weeks on end.!
I'm not sure they ARE actually safe on 40 points - they certainly won't get anymore and I will laugh like a drain if they go down.
What will Wardle et al say then? Can't wait to hear.
rubbish! clueless 7 defeats inc a cup exit! relegation form!! if this is the best Pearce can do then its time to go back to being an electrician! It takes a special person to manage a big club and we obviously have a very naie manager in charge - all the bragging about europe and big quotes he was releasing every day then we lose 7 in a row..... he needs to learn fast - he is still on probation as far as we are concerned.
Too many players who for one reason or another do not look good enough. Thatcher and Reyna were epecially poor but Vassell, Distin and Musampa need to do better than today. having said that we deserved something out of the game and both widemen Sinclair and Riera did OK. I thought it was very poor that the west ham announcer welcomed back Sinclair and Pearce but not David James. Shame.
Listened to it on the radio. Sounded like Sinclair had the best game and Thatcher, Musampa, Riera & Samaras were amongst the worst. It sounds like there's general improvement since the horror show that was the Boro game, but the lack of quality at the club couldn't be more obvious. If only we could show a bit more effort/pride to see us through to the end of the season...
i knew we wouldnt get anything when i seen steve bennet was the ref. i no everyone says it but we never get any luck with referees
We really must have a summer clear out or the spectre of a relegation fight looks likely next season. It is said that we have moved forward this year, but how can we when two of the three promoted clubs are leaps and bounds above us! Sibs, Musampa, Mills, Thatcher, Somm and BWP surely must be shown the door at the end of the season! Is it only the fans that can see this! Give youth a chance for the final matches, give them the experience and watch them thrive. They cannot do any worse than this lot who are no better than the team Royle took down!
Manchester City deserved a point at least out of this match particularly in the second half when they dominated the game. Incidently, for you purists, MCFC had 53% possession which I don't believe they have had for some time.
I thought Richards,Distin,Sinclair,Musampa and Reira had very good games.
Dunne,Sommeil and Reyna did OK and once again James had little to do which shows the improvement in the defence since SP took over.
I would like to see Ismael Miller play up front alongside Samaras until the end of the season now whatever the results. Vassaill has lost his confidence and is clearly not going to get chosen by Ericson, He may as well get off for his hernia operation now and come back fresh for next season.
I would also like to see Lee Croft get a couple of starts before the season ends as things happen when he is on and he definately brings pace to the side.
not good enough again!!!
we cannot keep putting up with this week in week out. Nobody wants to see stu sacked, but if the results dont pickup then the board will have there perfect scape goat so they can shoulder the blame.
Saying that he isnt completely blameless himself he is the coach thats what he gets paid for. we need at least 2 more wins before the end of the season to be sure. Oh i forgot the season is over.
We Probably deserved a point,& away from home i dont think this is such a bad result, not as bad as many will be painting it anyway, ... looking on the bright side, at least we will be playing prem footy next season !!!
Did I say that we would win the last six games ? I meant to say that we would turn up for the last six games,who really cares were all on good money apart from poor Joey.
Your club and its transfer policy are the laughing stock of football,carry on City.
Offside goals, Hard Luck stories, Lack of confidence!!!
The truth is, this is relegation form and im very worried. Where is the club going? As we saw on thursday night, the mythical shangra-la that is the clubs youth policy was at last found wanting. Lets hope Villa win tomorrow, as by the time we play them in ten days time there might only be 5 points between us and relegation.... BE AFRAID!
The Rags did not win the league I have had a brilliant weekend. All that money and the place nearly burnt down what a shame they got the fire brigade so quick! The Irish are going to be so unhappy.
It's another loss...effort is fine but results are the final measure of quality. City doesn't have quality right now. We'll have to be extremely clever in the close season with almost nothing to spend. Not encouraging.
So another defeat. Looks like 40 points for the season, a near miss. Oh boy, do we need some decent new players. I see the usual useless sub Sib got on, but BWP had to stay on the bench, what must his psyche be like? Imagine being considered worse than Sib, would make one want to quit if the wages weren't so good! SP, change your mind get rid of Sib, Sun and Reyna, buy them out if necessary, but just get rid.
I watched the game and honestly speaking i think that the signing of Samara was a fatal mistake, he is slow, his passes are unprecise, he misses a lot of good feedings. same thing about sebierski and Musampa. the manager should get rid of them as soon as the season ends. Reina, sinclair, and vassal are real asset.
the deffence except the uncapable number three is great.
6 losses on the trot. We're back to the bad old days. Stuart Pearce is not experienced enough to be a premiership manager, he should have cut his teeth in the lower divisions.
I fear the worst for next season when I think once again we'll be fighting relegation and the red lot will be singing 31 years!
Referees should have their eyes tested on a regular basis,
it should be manadatory.
Can anyone tell me why SP didn't bring in any midfielders during the transfer window???
Your derby game next year will be v DERBY.